A big day of travelling – over 600 km – but it was OK as we
stopped a few times in some lovely towns and villages. Our first stop was the
charming village of Blois where we had an hour to explore. In that time we went
to a patisserie that is very famous and supposedly has the best pastry chef in
France. The window looked awesome and the pastries were quite nice but I
wouldn’t say they were the best…but we have had some stunners! We then went for
a wander along the narrow cobble stoned streets and ended up at a lovely bridge
over a river…more photo opportunities. We finally made our way back into the
older part of the village where there was a castle to check out and a really
cute gift shop with an older French lady who commented that we spoke perfect
French – flattery will get you everywhere. She insisted on gift wrapping our
purchases and we feared we might be late back to the bus she took so much care
and time over it. It reminded me of the scene in Love Actually where the Rowan
Atkinson character is gift wrapping agonisingly slowly. The irony was that the
purchases we made were just small and only cost a couple of euro each but she
was really lovely and it was a shame we didn’t have time to talk with her some
more.
So we made it back to the bus with 2 minutes to spare (Carly
is paranoid about being “those people” that turn up late for the bus), and
headed off for our lunch stop at Tours. Once again we had an hour and a half to
spend eating, shopping and exploring…and that’s just what we did. We found a
patisserie that sold “croque mousseurs”, a sort of toasted cheese and ham
sandwich with more toasted cheese on top. With some difficulty we were able to
place our order and indicate we wanted it toasted and then we ate them at
tables outside the shop and watched the world go by. Carly also bought a cookie
which she said was yum. We then wandered up the street and I purchased a good
travel handbag that caught my eye. It is a good size, has lots of pockets and
compartments, and will fit as much as my little backpack. This will be handy as
some museums don’t allow backpacks but handbags are fine…go figure.
We found a supermarket and stocked up on snacks. I have
become re-addicted to rice bubble squares (that are bizarrely rectangular in
shape) and we also grabbed some almonds and Special K bars…we can’t eat
pastries ALL the time! The rest of the time we walked through the old narrow
streets taking in the ambience and delighting in just “being there”.
So, back on the bus and the journey continued. Patricia, our
French guide, spends maybe half the time providing commentary, stories,
detailing what’s coming up and the rest of the time we get to rest or read. I
finished my “book club” book – “Light Between Two Oceans” which was a great
read though I would recommend you don’t read the last bit in public. Thank
goodness most people were asleep and did not notice me blubbing like a baby!
The dinner at our hotel in Bordeaux was at 7pm and we
arrived at the hotel at 6.20pm so there was only time to quickly check in
before going down to eat. We had a nice vegetable lasagne which was good as you
don’t get lots of vegies in French cooking. The second course was roast duck
(very nice) and then a passionfruit pannacotta for dessert.
Patricia had offered to take us out after dinner to walk
around Bordeaux as it was the only chance we would have to see anything as we
leave at 8am tomorrow. Carly had a bit of an upset tummy so chose to have an
early night but made me promise to take lots of photos. We spent about an hour
and a half walking – from our hotel to the city centre, then down an old cobble
stoned street that is the main shopping street of Bordeaux, on to a carnival
with lots of rides, down to the quayside next to the very wide river, and then
back to the hotel. It was very nice to get out and about and was not as cold as
it has been in Paris and London. We are heading south and the weather is
warming up – it was 3° this morning but warmed up to about 16° during
the day. Tomorrow Barcelona is expecting a top of 21°…sacre bleu!
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