Another great weather day, but the next few days are looking dull. We’re on the last leg of the trip, just over a week till we’re back home.
Left the hotel a bit late at 11:00, sunny but chilly, walked to the Starbucks and checked out the river (Loire) on the way. We passed a church which was closed, but the outside was interesting, there were pock marks around some openings which I guessed were bullet holes from WW2.
After picking up the coffee we walked to the market, stopping off at a small jewellery shop where Song managed to clear it out, the owner laughing as he put up the closed sign and called his wife to tell her they could retire and buy that chateau they’d always wanted.
The market was a bit empty, especially compared to some we’ve visited, but had some good stands, mainly meat or cheese, not much seafood as others because we weren’t near the coast.
Didn’t spend long there and didn’t get anything, walked over the road to look for a restaurant and settled on one which looked good. We made a good choice – Song had scallops with prawns on black rice, I had duck breast with orange sauce and potatoes. Mine was really good, duck cooked to perfection and the sauce subtle. I also had a glass of red wine and a lemon tart for dessert, again really good. Cost 66 Euro ($118. This holiday thing is expensive).
Left the restaurant and walked a couple of minutes to the old part of town, came across a square with the familiar cafes around it and some charming old buildings.
Passed some remnants of an old church, a tower. About 100M away was another tower that used to be part of it, and we read that before most of it fell down around 1800 it was the largest church in the world, it took up most of the street we were in at the time. Part of it was rebuilt as a basilica which we visited.
One thing I’ve noticed about France, is that most of the clocks in old church towers, or stations, or basically anywhere public, are working and show the correct time.
Plugged in the next sight into Google Maps (the Cathedral) and accidentally passed by another sight that was on the list, the facade of an hotel.
Got to the Cathedral, which was very impressive, with similar carvings to the Duomo in Milan that we visited on this trip but seems so long ago now.
Inside was also impressive, with high ceilings and some nice stained glass windows. Some of the windows were plain glass, I suspect damaged during the Second World War, and I thought it’s a pity that the Catholic Church doesn’t have much money to repair them.
That’s the thing about Europe – visit almost any town and there is bound to be some impressive building, or history.
Went back to the hotel to chill out for a while.
Went out again, weather still great, walked to the river to take pictures of a bridge over the Loire.
Decided we didn’t need much for dinner so just went to a supermarket and got some nibbles.
Tomorrow is the bus to Orleans; we had bought a train ticket but because of the fire the train was going to take 4 hours, so we cancelled that and booked the bus which will take 2 hours (and is a lot cheaper).