Day 6 in the Loire Valley

 [3 April]

What began as a lazy morning turned into a fairly serious food day. 

We started with a light breakfast of toast with semi-fresh local bread (still from Les Halles) and lovely butter from Brittany. After a relaxing morning of catching up on blogging (for me) and laundry (for Susan) we headed out to explore the city a little more. 

We strolled over to the central shopping street, the properly pedestrianized rue Nationale, which is also along the tram line, and discovered this wonderful chocolate shop at the corner of rue de la Scellerie and rue Nationale.

the style and artwork is striking

We left the chocolate shop vowing to return after we did a bit of window shopping and browsing at Galleries Lafayette, one of the big department store chains in France. 

On the way back home we stopped at the Boulangerie a la Scellerie, a recommendation from Christina I. I would also like to point out that it was Christina who put the bug in our proverbial ears about Tours and what a wonderful place it was to spend some quality time. And so we are. Thanks Christina!

Don't the gray dough fool you, this was delicious -- the sandwich was chicken with cheese, tomato, egg and lettuce washed down with a white (!) Chinon. We learned later that they use black curry in the flour. Very unusual indeed!

We then treated ourselves to a brace of lovely pastries from La Chocolatier: a slice of flan for Susan and a éclair au chocolat for me. Both were superb.

look at that filling!

We spent the afternoon relaxing at home until it was time to meet our friends Richard and Pauline. They had just driven in from the UK after a morning crossing of the channel to Calais and are staying at the Nemea Appart Hotel across from the main train station. We stopped at the TI office along the way to ask about shuttle services for next week from the main station to St. Pierre des Corps. Unfortunately we seemed to know more about the free shuttle offered by the railway company than they did so we moved on to the hotel.

As we walked into the lobby we spied Pauline sitting patiently as Richard was off parking the car. He soon popped in and after hugs and handshakes all round we let them get settled in their room while we waited in the lobby.

The four of us then walked back to our apartment where we toasted being together again with a round of Cremant de Loire and spent the next hour or so catching up. We had made reservations at O Sidon for dinner and as that hour approached we all headed out around the corner and a very short block away on rue Colbert to the restaurant. The evening went by way too quickly as we chatted on about the vagaries of life.

After our delicious meal we parted ways at the corner of rue Colbert and rue des Amandiers as Richard and Pauline headed back to their hotel.

The plan, so far, is to meet up at the TI at 10:00 am Friday morning to buy our châteaux tickets and hit the road!

Tomorrow: Chateaux west of Tours.

Arrival in Tours

[29 March afternoon]

Our host, Jean-Philippe met us at the front gate. We had just pulled up in our taxi from the train station, and he walked over and introduced himself. A friendly fellow, he showed us pretty much everything we needed to know about the apartment: from getting into the front gate to how things worked once we were inside. Thorough and helpful, he provided a wealth of local information as well. (See the listing right here.)

front gate

courtyard (front gate in the back)

our front door

After our host said au revoir we left our bags unpacked and headed out, mainly in search of the nearest grocery store. Jean-Philippe had given us superb recommendations and directions toward that end -- but it was such a gorgeous day and we were so close to the river that we had to see it for ourselves.

Just a couple hundred feet from our apartment is the Loire with a street level overlook lined by a walking path. Looking down to the river it's easy to spy another path that follows alongside it.

looking upriver

and downriver

We then headed in the direction of the center of town, really just a short walk, and found ourselves faced with two fascinating memorials overlooking the river.

The first one was to Thomas Jefferson. Placed here in 2009 during the 220th anniversary of the French Revolution, it offers a brief biography of Jefferson's time as US ambassador to France but also describes his role in the founding of the America Republic. The plaque is marked un pont pour la Liberté.

The second, and certainly most stunning, was a memorial to the 640,00 members of the Allied Expeditionary Force's Supply of Service during the First World War.  Erected and maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission, this lovely fountain is four figures representing the four divisions of the Supply of Service: Administration, Procurement, Construction, and Distribution. It is topped by the figure of a Native American releasing an eagle. Fascinating.

Turning away from the river we walked a couple of short blocks to rue Colbert and our grocery stop for the day. Since this is one of the oldest parts of the city we passed some striking architecture. 

lovely small park

Carrefour grocery express

We picked up a few items to get us through the next day or two and, as we strolled down rue Colbert, passed quite a few restaurants and small shops just a few blocks from our apartment. Time for a short nap and then head out for dinner.

We got up when the alarm went off at 6:00 pm. After rousing ourselves we enjoyed a glass of Chinon before heading out to rue Colbert to choose an eatery.

We stopped at O Sidon and, after glancing at the posted menu of Lebanese dishes, we decided to give it a try. A lovely woman greeted us, and, although we didn't have reservations, she quickly and happily found a table for us. Tired and hungry (for GOOD food) we thoroughly enjoyed the evening. The Lebanese rosé wine was delicious and our grillades composed of brochettes of various meats accompanied by hummus, salad and rice, were très délicieux! 

We finished the dinner off sharing two different digestifs, whose names unfortunately I forgot to get. Our server did mention that both of them are very popular in Lebanon. One was a sauterne-like wine but much darker in color while the other was anisette-based. Both lovely.

It was a very short walk back home and to bed, a place we had not occupied for what seemed like forever!