Balladins Confort - Tours Sud Chambray-Les-Tours

... for campsite directions. One gentleman tells us there are none around the area and another man gives us directions to one on the outskirts of town. That was a wild goose chase!
All we could do was travel south to the next town (Orleans) an hour away and hope for a hotel.
Feeling really ****** *** we set off and after 5 minutes came across a wonderful sight, a tent symbol on a sign pointing left. Yipeeee.
Half an hour ...

... such as the USA, South Africa and Australia, of endless or 'big' skies. And as the weather has been superb since I left home, with a well-directed north-easterly to encourage me along, the sky is something I have had chance to see rather a lot of! This part of the trip is 75 km, which will give me 115 km for the day. But the conditions are with me and I continue to make good progress. I cycle into the town of Patay around lunchtime to discover a ...

... the capitol city. There's not too much there but a ginormous chateau (palace). The tour there was covered by our Paris musuem pass (still active!). We chose to make our visit there and not to Versailles, because half of the pleasure of Versailles (or so we've heard) is in the gardens, which are buttoned up tight in burlap for the winter at this time of year. So we opted for the slightly lower key, but no less ...

... a complete mish-mash of architecture. This is beginning to be a theme in these parts. Almost every old chateau, church or house has evidence of doors, windows or roofs that no longer exist, and we would love to know why. My French is good enough to wing it with most translations but not good enough to invest in a guide book, even when I can find one. Some houses in the town were faced with what appeared to be ...

... the School of Law and Business, Liberal Arts, and Science, the Institute of Technology, and the School of Engineering. From far away the university sort of reminds me of Hogwarts. The grounds here are enticing! I'd love to go here but I don't think I can afford it just yet. 2.22pm Wow, what a glorious day. I guess I better buy some souvenirs and pack up my stuff for home tomorrow.

... life along it in history. There was music, markets and food tents along the river. We were quite relieved to get rid of the van - conveniently enough, the van return was at the Ibis Hotel in Orleans- right across the street from the train station - too convenient to pass up.

... seem like a tourist city, but it is quite tourist friendly. They have the usual fine arts museum and massive cathedral but also the Joan of Arc house and history that they have fully embraced with statues and a museum of her own. We strolled down rue de la republique, the French equivalent of High or Main street where window shopping can truly be a test of will. We of course happened to come a cross an Irish pub that had cider, surprise surprise. We had to sample to celebrate the ...

... walk through the town and a look at the river we had dinner in the hotel restaurant. As i am finding the owners animals are frequently seen in the hotel outlets. On this occasion it was a small german shepard puppy that slipped unnoticed under our table. He thought Madeleines leather handbag made a fine meal and proceeded to start chewing away. The owners took him away , but he still had the run of the hotel anyway.

... right at the gates and is an absolute must if you intend to take some pictures, which you will definitely do. Then, from Chambord, there are another 6,5 km to Bracieux a very cute place with some excellent (not cheap) restaurants, attractive possibilities for photographers if the period between noon and 4 p.m. is skipped. There are only 9,5 km. to Cheverny although these will not be as flat as the ...

Järgmiseks läbisõidu kohaks oli 112 600 elanikuga Jeanne d'Arci poolt vabaks võideldud linn. Orleans oli arhitektuurilt ja üldmulje poolest modernseim seninähtud linnadest. Vähem esines vanu saksa stiilis maju - pigem meenutas see skandinaavia stiili. Linna keskust läbib loogeldes Loire'i jõgi. Kuna oli pühapäev, siis oli enamik poode suletud ning jalutasime vaid läbi peatänava, tegime mõned pildid Jeanne d'Arci kuju juures ning suundusime tagasi auto juurde, mis oli ...