A ROMANTIC LAST TRIP

We have arrived back in the Cotswolds after an eventful and unforgettable time in France.
To begin with, just as we were preparing for the last big adventure, there was a fire in the Channel Tunnel. For a day or two we weren’t sure if trains would be running and so we had to find alternative transport. We booked tickets on coach and ferry which would mean leaving at 10pm on the Saturday and sitting up all night, arriving in Paris to make a connection next day for the Loire Valley.
In the end, train services through the tunnel were restored, albeit on a limited schedule and all was well. We forfeited 35 quid on the ferry tickets but it was worth it. The train journey went smoothly and we picked up a train in Paris to Tours and then a bus to Loches where we arrived by late afternoon. We stayed in a hotel called the George Sand, very provincial and very friendly. The window of our room opened onto a terrace overlooking the River Indre flowing over a little waterfall alongside the public gardens, with beautiful flowers and trees.
Next morning we wandered the city in search of breakfast, and found a typical cafe and bar where we sat in the morning sun and enjoyed orange juice, fresh croissants and hot coffee.
Then we explored what is a really interesting city at every level. It is of course, typically French with rows of shuttered houses and shops facing onto quite narrow streets which wind all over the place. Cars and motor scooters roar around with pedestrians dodging them with their shopping of bread sticks and groceries poking out of bags and baskets. We walked past bakeries and cake shops literally following our noses. The scent of fresh bread is most enticing at breakfast time, and those beautiful pastries and brioches are very tempting.
Contrary to popular image, people were very friendly. Almost everyone we passed would greet us with a cheerful “Bonjour”!
Not knowing much about Loches we just wandered about past the shuttered windows and little shops and cafes until we spotted a narrow lane leading upwards towards the towers of the medieval part of the city.
This took us past older stone buildings and then under a little stone bridge from which we emerged into a street dominated by a high cliff on one side, with a massive castle rearing up. This was a real fairytale chateau and you could imagine the Sleeping Beauty up there in one of the towers. There were turrets and tall chimneys, with pointed roofs and dormer windows.
Built on a rocky outcrop the chateau towers over the town and its outer walls conceal a beautiful medieval city. We passed through the medieval gateway passing firstly a house once lived by the artist Emmanual Lansyer. This was full of beautiful landscape paintings but for me the garden and the view across the town was what made this place special.
As we entered the main tower of the chateau we learned that it had quite a history. Apparently it was taken from the English
King John in 1205, when the city was besieged during the 100 years war. The heir apparent to the throne, Charles, took refuge there. We stood in a huge room lined with ancient weaponry and suits of armour. Here Joan of Arc begged Charles, the Dauphin to go to Reims to be crowned king. Once he had become Charles VII, he went back to the chateau with his "Damoyselle de Beauté", Agnès Sorel, the first "official mistress" of a king of France. From there we walked along the road to the 12th century church of St Our. It was once part of a monastery founded by the aforementioned St Our in around 500AD. Beyond that we found the expansions to the chateau where there are dungeons and more defensive towers. This was the work of Louis XI who enlarged the fortress and made it a state prison. This part contrasts with the southern wing, which looks more feudal with its turrets, watchtowers, and its parapets. From the top of the towers, the view across the rooftops of Loches could only be French.
Leaving the chateau we walked back down the hill past more houses and little shops and cafes and restaurants. The good part was that there were hardly any tourists like us around, so it all looked natural .
By the time we had finished peering into book shops and charcuteries and patisseries it was mid afternoon and we hadn’t eaten. So we popped into a bakery and in broken French, asked for baguettes avec jambon et fromage and some pains de raisin, (ham and cheese rolls and raisin buns). This along with drinks, we took down to the river bank and enjoyed in the sunshine.
After that we paid a visit to the local tourism centre looking for a way to get to one of the many chateaux in the Loire Valley. There were no tours as such and the woman who dealt with us seemed disinclined to offer any advice. So we gave that a miss temporarily and took to drink.
It was around 5pm so we selected a sidewalk bar, sat down and ordered vin rouge along with everybody else after work. It was a sheer delight to relax in the sun and just watch people walking by, or greeting each other over drinks (and in some cases smoking ghastly French ciggies) and chatting animatedly (probably about those weird looking tourists guzzling cheap plonk). After that we wandered back to our hotel to rest and think about dinner.
At around eight we’d decided on a restaurant called Tour St Antoine, oddly enough named after the tower which overshadowed the building. This is a tall medieval tower in the centre of the town.
After that we returned to the George Sand to plan tomorrow.
LOCHES DAY 2
After breakfast we wandered down to the township again to find out about visiting one of the chateaux. This time a more helpful lady was on duty at the tourist office. She explained that there were no formal tours going at this time of year, and no regular bus service. She suggested that a taxi might be the answer, and the nearest and most visited chateau was at Chenonceau about half an hour away. We found a willing taxi driver and set off.
When we left our driver, with a promise to return for us at 4pm, we walked up a long drive lined with tall chestnut trees and there it was. Chenonceau!
This chateau is simply breathtaking. Set literally on the River Cher (There is no River Sonny), this beautiful building was created in 1513. It stands in wide formal gardens and surrounded by the waters of the river which runs around it and through the arches of its very structure. The whole is reflected in the slow flowing waters of the river. And of course there are those fairytale turrets and pointed roofs.
Inside we wandered through marbled halls and rooms hung with Belgian tapestries and furnished with gilt and silken hangings and canopied beds, and portraits of the high and mighty, of kings and mistresses and famous men and women of the Renaissance. From the balconies we overlooked the gardens below. There was the garden of Diane de Poitiers, a broad expanse of walled garden with hundreds of shrubs and plants, climbing and stemmed roses and in the centre, the original fountain still working. On the other side of the water which acts as a moat around the chateau, is another glorious garden, the garden of Catherine de Medicis, another riot of shrubs and plants, including an avenue of orange trees and more rose trees all elegantly laid out in formal style. Beyond the walls of these gardens are seventy acres of forest where the rich and famous once hunted.
We enjoyed lunch of fresh baguettes and fruit juice before proceeding to the sixteenth century farm which adjoined the chateau. This is a series of restored old barns and stables and leads on to the vegetable garden, a huge expanse of beds crammed with every conceivable vegetable, including the biggest pumpkins I’ve ever seen.
Four o clock came all too soon and our driver picked us up for the return journey and once back in Loches, we had to pack for our departure in the morning.
That night we enjoyed dinner in our hotel restaurant overlooking the gardens.
LOCHES TO PARIS
In the morning we had some time to spare before taking the bus back to Tours, so we took a last stroll around the streets and gardens of Loches, to discover that it was market day. We spent the next hour checking out stalls selling flowers and fruit and vegetables, the most marvellous local cheeses and wine, chickens and rabbits and homemade pate.
Then it was time to take the bus to Tours where we joined a train to Paris. A few hours later we were dragging our suitcase off the train at the Gare d’Austerlitz and finding out how to get to our hotel.
A friendly railway employee directed us to the Metro and we took it to the appropriate station. The Hotel Jardin d’Eiffel was a ten minute walk from the station which came out on the left bank of the Seine, in a charming residential area. We looked up to find the Eiffel Tower looming over us so we knew we’d never get lost with a landmark like that so close. We dined that evening at a small nearby bistro and went to bed. Just outside our window we could see the top ten metres or so, of the Eiffel, all lit up and sparkling with stars.
PARIS DAY ONE
As we had visited Paris before, we decided to do one or two specific things we hadn’t done before. One was to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and the other was to do a tour of the famous sewers of Paris.
So the morning found us walking, in perfect weather, along the banks of the Seine to the tower. On the way we passed a man who suddenly stopped and picked up a gold signet ring which was lying on the footpath. He asked if we owned it. We said no.
He tried it on his finger but it didn’t fit so he gave it to Barbara. Somewhat bewildered we accepted politely and walked on.
Then came the sting.
Could we give him some money “pour un sandwich”
We were hooked and effectively paid him to go away. That ring cost us several euros.
Further along our way, we passed a number of those big glass topped tour boats which travel the river full of sightseers. One of the things they offered was a romantic dinner and evening cruise along the river.
As tomorrow evening was our 45th wedding anniversary we decided to throw caution and our credit cards to the wind and book a table.
More on that later!
We joined the queue for the ride to the top of the tower, feeling some trepidation but determined to go on.
In the end it wasn’t all that daunting. We took one lift which went up on an angle along one of the giant pylons and then to another lift which went straight up to the top. I was so busy with my camera that the altitude didn’t come into it.
Once at the top we stepped out onto a wide observation platform that was enclosed with glass, and went around 360 degrees. Even though there was a little smog around we could make out all the famous landmarks of the city; the Arc de Triumphe, Notre Dame, the Ile de la Cite, the Place de la Concorde and of course the winding River Seine.
We spent nearly an hour up there, gasping at the view and taking far too many photos. On the way down we got off at the second level and sat drinking coffee and pinching ourselves to ensure that we were in Paris.
We walked back along the river and then up another charming residential avenue to a broad square, the Champ de Mars, and there we took a table in a bistro of the same name, and had a lunch of delicious salads and chilled white wine. For the rest of the afternoon we rode the Metro down to Notre Dame and spent more hours inside the cool gloom of this wonderful old Gothic building, marvelling at the rose windows, the high arches of the nave and numerous side chapels. Outside the architecture is something else again, with the gargoyles and the rows and rows of statuary and flying buttresses.
Then more wine at a sidewalk cafe, and a long walk along the left bank past all those little book stalls selling “dirty French postcards” and old copies of French magazines and those ubiquitous prints of the Moulin Rouge and the Eiffel Tower and the other landmarks.
After another pleasant evening meal we retired for the night, our only distraction being CNN on TV, rattling on endlessly about the financial crisis. We were in Paris and all that seemed very far away.

PARIS DAY TWO
This was the day of our anniversary and we had decided just to wander about, so we found one of those open topped buses on which you could buy a ticket and hop on and off at will. For the rest of the day we looked at Paris from the open top, stopping firstly at the Louvre and strolling around the grounds. We’d been inside before, so today we enjoyed the sunshine and admiring the famous pyramid glass entrance before walking into the lovely Tuileries gardens. The day was once again clear and cloudless with just enough chill in the air to let us know that this was autumn. The long wide walkways of the gardens were perfect for strolling, stopping to admire the Romanesque statues and the chestnut trees and the pigeons and the Parisians enjoying the sun. Every few hundred metres we’d reach a pond with a fountain and lots of chairs where we could rest and enjoy the warmth.
We stopped and drank coffee under the trees before walking on towards the roar of traffic.
Here was the Place de la Concorde with what seemed a chaotic circular race of cars and motor scooters competing to reach the next set of traffic light first. And in the centre the tall slender needle of the Obelisk of Luxor. This is the largest square in Paris, covering 20 hectares. It was once called the Place de la Revolution and the guillotine stood here providing the mob with grisly entertainment.
Very cautiously Barbara and I crossed the Place dodging the traffic and along the arched verandahs of the shopping precinct before reaching the Place Vendome. This is where Cartier and Tiffany and Bulgari and many more jewellery and fashion shops abound. In the centre of the Place is a huge monument commemorating Napoleon’s victories. It’s also the site of the Ritz Hotel, from which, according to the bus guide, Princess Di left to “meet her fate.”
We took the bus again and drove up the magnificent avenue of the Champs Elysee. We passed more of those fabulous shops and theatres and apartment blocks with their wrought iron balconies looking down.
We lunched again on baguettes and cakes, and then walked to the great mausoleum of the Arc de Triumphe, with its enormous French and European flags hanging from the centre above an eternal flame. They relight this flame every evening and later we would see French soldiers and veterans marching to the forecourt for this solemn ceremony.
Once again we took refuge on the bus as the homeward bound traffic was building and it was the safest way to go. We crossed the Pont DÁlexander past Notre Dame again and Les Invalides, where the body of Napoleon lies beneath a magnificent gold covered dome glinting in the late afternoon sun.
There was the Greek columned church of Mary Magdalene, the Madeleine, and then the Trocadero gardens, their terraces of trees beginning to lose their leaves now, and finally back to the Eiffel Tower .
There was still the evening ahead, and so we walked back to the hotel via the Champs de Mars where we shared a half bottle of Bordeaux before changing for dinner.
An hour later a suave French waiter was ushering us to a table for two aboard our glass topped boat.

The trip began with a glass of champagne and as our vessel pulled away from the wharf we relaxed, shared an anniversary kiss, and prepared to enjoy a superb meal under the stars.
And a superb meal it was.
As the flood lit buildings glided by on either bank of the river, we enjoyed smoked salmon and frogs legs, beautifully grilled steak, duckling, and excellent wine to match each course. The Eiffel Tower when it is floodlit blue and twinkling with white stars looks absolutely spectacular. And those many landmarks with golden domes also floodlit formed part of an unforgettable journey. As we passed under bridge after bridge we were greeted by another fine building or another great monument each with its own flood lighting. And on board we were enjoying strawberries and ice-cream and sorbet accompanied by a violin player and a singer singing Edith Piaf songs. She also sang Ave Maria as we passed Notre Dame which seemed a little over the top, but it couldn’t take the edge of this wonderful evening.
After three hours as we drew slowly in towards our moorings, Barbara enjoyed a last glass of wine and I enjoyed a brandy. And then we walked hand in hand, back to our hotel. This was a night neither of us will ever forget.
PARIS AND HOME
We still had a few hours left on the following morning and we spent it down the sewers.
The sewers of Paris are perhaps one of the lesser known tourist spots but if you ever get the chance to visit them, do it.
You follow a prepared tour first down below the streets near the river and then along a labyrinth of tunnels. There is plenty of information about how this city beneath a city came to be and how it was engineered. On the walls are the same street signs as above, so you know where you are, and you can see the various strange machines they used to keep everything flowing. And below your feet under steel grillwork you can distinctly see fast flowing water and whatever is in it, running past. Of course in such a place there is still a bit of an atmosphere, but it’s not overpowering and well worth putting up with. We spent about an hour down there and found it fascinating.
But then we had to go. We took a bus heading for the Gare du Nord, only to find it had to terminate in the Place de la Concorde because there was a festival going on in the centre of town. So we found a taxi that got us there in time to catch the Eurostar. Three hours later we dragged our case down the steps onto the London Underground and then on to Paddington.
Then a train to Charlbury and a taxi to our Costswold refuge!
POST SCRIPT
It is now Tuesday morning and this is our last blog. Unfortunately all that hauling of a very heavy suitcase caught up with me on Sunday and I spent two days in bed with a very painful strained muscle. Thank God I still had some anti-inflammatories and they’ve done the trick. And now we’re packing for the last time. We leave Stable Cottage on Saturday, and stay in London with Fritha until Thursday...then Heathrow and home.
This has been a wonderful time in our lives, an experience we shall never ever forget. There are so many memories that we shall cherish. The Norwegian fjords, that unforgettable dog sled ride, the concert in Vienna, getting lost in Bratislava, beautiful Budapest, the Battle Proms at Blenheim, learning to dance the Galliard at Hampton Court, our village fete and the Morris Dancers, the Isle of Skye, being awakened by bagpipes in Scotland, staying with Ros and John in the Border country, dinner at Claridges, Beatrix Potter’s house in the Lake District, the Giant’s Causeway and that rope bridge, the incident of the daffodils, and the friends we made at the Swan and so much more!
And now we are looking forward to coming home and seeing our grandchildren and our children and boring all our friends with photographs and reminiscences until we get itchy feet once more.
PS: Aren’t you glad people don’t do slide nights anymore!