Day 71...Castles and drinks and food - oh my! - 5th September

Getting used to hiking up and down 3 flights of stairs to shower in the morning. I am usually ok washing with one hand as it’s a push button. But I had to do my hair this morning, so made Nathan push it for me! Haha.

We decided that we loved the shopping so much yesterday that we would forgo the Cathedral of st Denis, and go shop again before leaving. First, we trained it back to the Kenyan embassy to pick up our visas. The whole way I envisioned some disaster and that they weren’t done – but everything was fine and they gave it back no problems! Yay! We went back to Marais and Nathan got a cool jacket and scarf, while I got a great corset top (I’ve always wanted a corset!!) and a funky denim jacket that reminded me of Bianca’s style. I have decided that my new look when I get home will be French boudoir with heels and lace and skirts. Very nice. It was the first things we had bought for ourselves since New York, so it felt quite nice. It hurt our budget, but it had to be done I think.

The food court guys – wow it was amazing! Like nothing you’ve ever seen! You serve yourself and pay at the end. And the choice was phenomenal. There were rows and rows of desserts in tall glasses, cooked fresh fish, fruit salad, squeezed oranges (where you could see it happen), wine and all of the best quality ever! By the way, at some servo in France, I saw fresh made crème brulee! We sat and ate brie cheese and quiche with the view over Paris and the Eiffel Tower in view as well. I was very glad we had found this place. After that we when left Paris, and had a 40 minute frustrating drive in the wrong direction! We turned around and eventually ended up heading south, bypassing Orleans on thew ay.

As we were making good time, we headed straight for the town of Tours. The countryside was very flat with lots of fields. Not many trees either, it was a lot like mid to northern Germany. Tours the town was cute, and we finagled a cheap room at $36 euro – WITH breakfast, $2 euro cheaper than Paris. What a steal. I love it that accommodation is getting cheaper. The pounds in the UK, and the pricey German budget hotels were killing us. We had free parking out the front too, which is always a bonus in our situation. Our hotel was a B&B in a four storey building (we were at the top of the spiral stairs – again!) called Hotel Regina. The lady was eager to teach us French and was delighted at our efforts when we first tried to speak to her. I have not found a rude French person yet (bar that one waiter in Paris on day 1). Everyone else has been friendly, some are absolute stars. They really appreciate it if you try to speak French, and I always try the French first. (How would we feel in Australia if someone started yammering in another language to us you know?). So we get on famously. When I botch it up, they laugh and it’s a good icebreaker. If they speak English they will, (I will always reply or ask questions in French if I can). If they don’t, they slow down for you and use lots of hand signals and use symbols. Very lovely.

Anyway, we unloaded our stuff upstairs and set off into old town. It was so cute! The houses looked like they belonged in a fairy-tale town, and leaned to and fro in the most pleasing manner. The streets were winding and romantic, and there was a large square full of tables and people drinking, all surrounded by little townhouses from the olden days. It could have been centuries ago – if the drinkers were replaced by animals and a market, we could have been fully transported back in time. It was a uni town, so everything was super cheap – but there was no reduction in quality. Nay, maybe even better! We picked a restaurant in a lane on the edge of the square. They had a 3 course menu with some great options. The waiter didn’t speak English, but we managed to convey what we wanted him to pick and he seemed delighted with this. He ended up getting quite into it, and coming back to check on our dishes and getting really excited. The food was exquisite!! He got us two separate dishes each course. The entrée was fromage (that’s cheese to you) baked in something, and the other was potted meat that you spread on freshly baked bread. It is a local speciality from back in the day when they had cooked their meat for the week and used the leftovers. It was divine. The main was a filet meat almost blue which melted in your mouth, and the other was a steak of some kind. The crème caramel was sooooo yummy, and Nate had some weird French pie with the best vanilla sauce. Yum!

We polished off a great bottle of wine which the waiter picked as well, and Nate also had a beer. Fully satisfied, we wandered into the square and sat for some more drinks and watched the action. Sweating French food and wine from our pores, we eventually made it back home to bed.