31-7

Tours is the best base camp for Chateaux hopping. We arrived at the art deco Grand Hotel (1927) which was excellent value one minute from the train station, which would come in handy. La Gare (1846) is a piece of art in itself by the way. The lady at the hotel checked us in early without any fuss and we were on way. Starting off with a visit to Musée des Beaux Artes (1795), where one area of the museum had been closed due to the heat (34 degrees), we still managed to see some pretty pictures. After admiring the lovely art, we wandered around the garden for a bit and sat on a bench in the shade. We cooled down some more inside the adjacent Cathedral

Saint-Gatien (1547). It was time for a drink and we rested our bones at an Irish pub with a terrace of all places. Next, we couldn't resist popping into a Monoprix to get some organic fruit, and Coop, an extremely impressive organic supermarket, where we found a couple more items and that was that. We crossed the Loire over a bridge and decided we liked it better on the side we'd come on. Dinner was at a classic Vietnamese place around the corner, and, as they didn't have a terrace, I specifically asked them to kindly open the window, which the waiter did, and then we felt at ease. Babe had a chicken and shrimp noodle soup and I had a spicy beef dish.

1-8

After breakfast, we started off with a brisk 27 minute walk to the botanical garden (1843), which is refreshingly free of charge. They have a mini zoo with a few animals, i.e. exuberantly edgy emus, fabulously flamboyant flamingos and wonderfully welcoming wallabies. There are of course a plethora of plants, and, because of the crisis, the hothouses are closed indefinitely. Next, on to the Musée Compagnonnage (1968), which is notoriously difficult to find; it is hidden away behind an abbey, but we just about managed to find it. Here they deal with guild organisations and diverse artisans' handicrafts. We enjoyed seeing the curiosities they have.

See Amboise

Back in Tours, dinner was at a place called Zinc; I had scallops and Dumi had duck.

4-8

To round up our stay in Tours, we began the day having a leisurely liaison with the Jardin des Prebéndes (1972). We tried to contact the guardians of the Synagogue (1907), but nobody answered. We also saw briefly the 11th century Chateaux from the outside, where, unexpectedly, they have a memorial to holocaust victims.