3-8

The trains to Chenonceaux are frustratingly few and far between. We caught the 9.15 and it was drizzling when we arrived.

We still had to queue despite having pre-booked tickets. I was able to recollect the façade on the water and the long corridor with the chess board pattern inside along with sweeping views. The place had only just opened at 9.30 and tourists were converging like vultures would upon their prey. We saw where Catherine de Medici had slept and where she'd plotted away. We admired this ever so romantic Chateaux, which Dumi particularly liked for it's feminine touch. We walked in the forest on the grounds where the tomb of Louse Dupin (1733-1782) can be found; she'd still remembered for her beauty and spirit; 'round these parts you could hear a pin drop.

We had a basic lunch at an on site brasserie; I had a veggie burger and chips and babe had fish & chips. The Orangerie I'd planned for us to go to was closed. In order to get to Orleans, we had to return to Tours first; it's just the way the train routes are in this part of the country. I had considered going to Cheverny, but it wasn't possible to get there in the afternoon unless you have a car. So we did the 1.5 hour journey and headed straight for the Hotel Groslot (1549), which was free and, we managed to go in before anybody else did, so we had this elaborately designed private residence cum ''common house'' pretty much all to ourselves. Orleans is a fairly big place, which is fractionally smaller population-wise than Tours. The Cathedral and the large statue in the main square both clearly demonstrate how important Joan of Arc (1412-1431) was to the town. After all, she was nicknamed 'The Maid of Orleans' for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Year's War, and, much later, canonised in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV. We had an Indian and couldn't help but notice that there are four Indian restaurants all clustered together in the same street. Tonight, our place filled up nicely, but the one opposite had a very slow evening.