Blogs from Centre, France, Europe - page 34

Tonight I am in the city of Tours. I managed to cover the distance between Blois, and here in one day. With my backpack on, I think that it is quite the feat. Needless to say, I am sore, and I will be taking a day off to rest. I'm getting a bit tired of camping. My tent has started to leak, the ground seems to be getting harder, and the bugs are everywhere. Anyways, I am seeing plenty of chateau (castles that kings built when they lived here), and cathedrals. I look forward to uploading pictures. I probably only have a couple more days in the Loire Valley. I think that when I am done with the Loire, I'll head to the south of France. Once again, I do have to thank the Wiebes, for ... read more

We left Paris yesterday and headed for the small town of Tours. It is in the Loire Valley. It is a cute university town surrounded by chateaux. We arrived in the afternoon to find that Expedia had booked us a room that was not available. The lady at the hotel got us a room at the Best Western instead. It is awesome!!! There is a fireplace, two beds (one queen and one double), a huge bathroom, and three balconies. We really lucked out. Also, it is in a great location near the train station. Yesterday we just walked around and did some site seeing. Today we were going to go on a tour of two chateauxs and Leonardo da Vinci's home and then a wine tasting. It was all booked though so we are going to ... read more

Yesterday I enjoyed a day trip to Chartre to see the cathedral. It was good whether and I enjoyed seeing what was one of my favorite cathedral's from art history. Like all cathedrals here it was a bit dark, dank and cold....but better to see the stained glass illuminated I suppose. Not much else to report but see the nice pictures attached. I am on my way to Vezelay in the region of Burgundy today. ... read more

bon soirče in sancerre Europe » France » Centre » Bourges By paris and robMay 16th 2007paris and robparty... read more

Loire Valley, Chateau land. The entire area is dotted with elaborate chateaux plumped in the middle of sprawling, intricately manicured lands. The vast majority would put the Beverly Hillbillies mansion to shame, although none of them had any ceement ponds. Plenty of billyard rooms though, and with fancy eatin tables and racks of pot passers (this is the result of a misspent youth being weened on Looney Tunes and 1960 American comedies). Meanwhile back on vacation, while these chateaux are spectacular (and expensive to visit, they could bleed you dry if you visited all of them), they are a glaring reminder of how much fun life was for the elite in France back in yore, but also how tough it was for the far greater number of plebs at the other end of the economic scale. ... read more