Saturday, October 8 we went to the château in Chinon, a partial ruin with some intact rooms and museum like exhibits. We then went into town. It was not at all what I was expecting. It was so quiet and most places were closed. I would have thought it was a Sunday if I didn’t know any better. We had lunch at the one place we could find open that was serving food, then walked along the river and through the market.

We got back to Tours and began preparing for our departure in the morning. I enjoyed Tours very much and found it to be a good base for the Loire Valley. It’s too bad we didn’t have more time.

Friday, October 7 we decided to go to Chenonceau, our favorite château. We first saw it in 2014. We invited our new friend, Annette, to join us for the day. We toured the castle and the gardens, then had a small bite to eat at the little cafe. It was as wonderful as I remembered. The château was built from 1514-1522 and was later extended to span the river in 1556-1559. The gallery on the bridge was built from 1570-1576. The château has an interesting and tragic history.

We then drove to another château, Azay-le-Rideau. Much more modest than Chenonceau, but also beautiful with park like grounds.

We returned to Tours and had dinner with Annette again. She was fun to be with and we enjoyed spending time with her.

Here are some nighttime photos of Tours.

Thursday, October 6 we had a private tour scheduled at 2:00 with Véro. I have been following her for a very long time online, where I first knew her as French Girl in Seattle. In 2019 she moved back to France after 24 years in Seattle and was in Paris initially. She was a Rick Steves tour guide that first year. Then the pandemic hit and France had several different lockdowns that were very restrictive. Tours weren’t happening and being the entrepreneur that she is she started teaching French lessons online and doing virtual tours, first around her neighborhood during lockdown, then further afield when she could be more mobile. She started a patreon program that has different levels depending on how much you pay each month and her patrons get additional content that other people don’t get. She is giving private tours to her patrons at a discount if they are in Tours, so of course I jumped at that. Another patron, Annette, was going to be there at the same time so we joined together to split the cost of the tour.

Since the tour wasn’t until 2:00 we decided to go to Château Villandry in the morning. The château was great and the gardens were impressive. Even this late in the year they were beautiful. They must be spectacular in the spring and summer. No photos were allowed inside, but I made up for that with far too many of the gardens.

We returned to Tours and met Véro and Annette for the tour. We spent what seemed to be a very fast 3 hours walking around the historic center and learning the fascinating history of Tours. We ended the tour just down the street from our apartment and we all had a very nice time at one of the local restaurants talking together and sharing a bottle of wine.

After Véro left, Annette joined us for dinner. We had a wonderful time today.

On Wednesday , October 5 we left Sarlat, located in the Dordogne region of southern France, and drove north to our home for the next 4 nights. We are staying in Tours, in the Loire Valley. Our apartment is on a pedestrian street in the old area of town. The apartment is very old and full of details like ceiling beams, wall beams, etc. The bathroom and kitchen are modern, and that’s all that counts for us.

On the drive north we stopped in a town called Oradour-sur-Glane. The original village was destroyed 4 days after D-Day, when 643 of its inhabitants were massacred by Nazi troops. They killed almost every man, woman and child present and then they destroyed the village and disposed of the bodies. Only 6 people escaped and that’s how they know what happened. The village is now a permanent memorial. The new village was constructed nearby. We first walked through the visitors center to learn about the massacre, then we walked around the village. It was very emotional.

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Tuesday, October 4 we started the day by driving to Beynac. It was foggy and a bit of a challenge at times. Beynac is small, there was nothing happening and not much was open. We walked along the river and a few streets in town, then drove up to the château. We didn’t plan to go in since we will be seeing some other château soon, but we wanted to see it.

We then went to Château des Milandes. It was built around 1489. In 1940 Josephine Baker rented the château, then bought it in 1947. She was born in St. Louis, MO in 1906 and she became a dancer, singer and actress, breaking color barriers. She was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture and her career was primarily centered in France. She became a French citizen and aided the French Resistance during WWII. After the war she was awarded the Resistance Medal, the Croix de Guerrero by the French military and was named a Chevalier of the Legion d’honneur by General Charles de Gaulle. In November 2021 she was interred in the Panthéon in Paris, the first black woman to receive one of the highest honors in France.

Pictures were not allowed inside.

We saw a Birds of Prey show there as well. One bird flew so close to Jim it clipped his ear..

We enjoyed our last day in the Dordogne and will be sorry to leave in the morning, but more of France awaits exploration.

Monday, October 3 we went to Lascaux IV, an exact replica of the cave discovered in 1940 by 4 teenaged boys that contained cave paintings dating back 20,000 years. The caves were opened for viewing, but then closed in 1963 because the paintings were deteriorating. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the cave, but we could in the museum we went into after the guided tour.

We later went to the village of La Roque-Gageac and took a boat ride on the Dordogne River in a reproduction of a 19th century gabarre, the type of boat used to move wares on the river before trains were available. Unfortunately they had amended the itinerary and we weren’t able to see everything we were expecting to see, but it was fun.

I don’t know if google maps hates me, but there must have been an easier way to drive to and from this town. There was a 5 kilometer long road with room for one car, but it was two way traffic and it was so hilly and winding that I couldn’t see what was coming towards us. One turn was so tight that it required a 3 point turn. Yikes!

We finished the day with a delicious dinner and I finally had some duck. Yummy!

Sunday, October 2 we tried to figure out what to do. Sundays can be tricky because you never know what will be open and what will be closed. There was something Jim wanted to do in Sarlat later in the afternoon, so we decided to start the day by going to two places designated as some of the “Most Beautiful Villages of France.” I like beautiful villages, so off we went. First stop was Turenne. It was closed. Yes, the entire town was closed. Well, to be fair there was a tiny store open. I asked about where to locate a bathroom and there wasn’t one.

We continued on to Collonges La Rouge and we were not disappointed. It’s a picturesque village with a surprise around every corner. Some things were closed, but there was plenty that was open and we didn’t have any trouble spending a few hours there.

We went back to Sarlat, parked the car at our apartment and walked into the old town. Sarlat was busy! There was a car show that Jim wanted to see and as we walked down the street we saw some great vintage cars. We walked to another street because we saw cars there, and at the end of the street a crowd was gathered and we saw a red carpet and a stage, or as we were soon to find out, it was a runway. A fashion show? It was unexpected, except when I looked at the flyer we had picked up and translated it I found it was very clear. Many of the cars/motorcycles were just a way to deliver the models to the stage. The models were every age from very young children to mature adults, both male and female. The clothing went from lingerie to outerwear, and everything in between.

We wandered around some more, admiring the buildings.

Saturday, October 1 and it’s market day in Sarlat. It’s a rainy day, which is a bit disappointing. Rain or shine we are going. The market is a few minutes walk away in the old town and I enjoyed walking the different streets to see what what people were selling. We didn’t buy anything except for bread for dinner and some strawberries, but for me the markets are always about the ambience. I’m sure we will see more while we are in France.

We decided that the weather was perfect for a nap. We left home 6 weeks ago and it seemed like the perfect day for it. We woke up refreshed and went back to see how things looked after the market. We walked down streets we hadn’t seen before and enjoyed discovering new things.

We walked down a tiny street and some people in a doorway stopped us and invited us in to look at their floral exhibits in the different rooms of what might have been rental units. They each seemed to have kitchens and presumably bathrooms, although we didn’t see them. The rooms were beautiful.

We went back to our apartment and I cooked dinner. Eating out gets old after awhile. It was a good day.

Friday, September 30 we woke up at our hotel near the airport, had breakfast and took a taxi back to the airport. Those 2 taxi rides ended up costing us $45. That was for 2 miles each way. What a rip off. After a mechanical situation with the first car we finally got on the road. After SUV’s for 4 people with automatic transmissions in Ireland and Scotland we now had 4 door Fiat 500 with a manual transmission. Very different, but the car is fine. We got a later start than we had hoped for so had to bypass a stop I was wanting to make on the way to a cute little town. We will see a lot of cute towns, so not a big deal. We got to Sarlat a couple of hours before we were to meet our Airbnb host at our apartment. We took advantage of the time by walking around the old town, and we shared a snack. We met the host and then headed for the grocery store to buy supplies for the next 5 nights. After taking our purchases and luggage up the the apartment we went back into the old town which is less than a 5 minute walk. We walked around so more and then had dinner. We both love this town. There’s some new and interesting around every corner. We’re going to like it here.

Thursday, September 29 we had what we thought would be an easy day traveling to France. We allowed plenty of time to get from our hotel to Gatwick airport, located south of London. We took the Underground from the station just 2 minutes from our hotel to Victoria Station and bought train tickets to Gatwick. I got the tickets from a machine and realized they weren’t for the express train. Oh well, no big deal. We got off the train at the airport and decided to have a late lunch before going through security. We were to arrive in Bordeaux at 7:00 p.m. and needed to pick up our car, so no time for dinner after we arrive. Lunch was good, especially considering it was at an airport. Going through security didn’t take too long and we found it was too early to know what gate we needed to go to. They have lounge areas for people in that situation, so we found a couple of seats and waited. We went to Gate 5 when they announced it and waited. And waited. And waited. The flight was delayed. The reasons given were they were waiting for the crew, then it was mechanical problems, then on the Easy Jet app it told me it was strikes in France. Eventually we were told to leave the gate and to watch the board in the lounge area. Okay, more waiting there. Oh, go back to Gate 5. Okay, off we went. Then the pilot made an announcement that there had been a bird strike with the plane but it was fine now. And we waited. Oh, there isn’t anyone to load the luggage. More waiting. By this time I knew the car rental location would be closed before we arrived. Our friend Betsy, who lives in France, was trying to call them for me and never was able to speak to a person. Europcar had our flight information if they really wanted to know what was happening. We arrived in Bordeaux at 10:00 p.m., 3 hours later than we should have. We had to go through immigration and get our luggage, which was fairly fast, then take a taxi to our hotel, which was only 2 miles away. We were exhausted by then, but happy to be in France.