4. Chambord chateau, Loire

Chambord is the largest chateau in the Loire valley. The king of France - Francis 1- ordered the chateau to be built in 1519, and its construction lasted over 30 years.

The castle was rarely inhabited. In fact, the king spent barely 7 weeks there in total, comprised of short hunting visits. As the castle had been constructed with the purpose of short visits, it was actually not practical to live there on a longer-term basis. The massive rooms, open windows and high ceilings meant heating was impractical.

Also, as the castle was not surrounded by a village or estate, there was no immediate source of food other than game. This meant that all food had to be brought with the group, typically numbering up to 2000 people at a time.
As a result the castle was completely unfurnished during this period. All furniture, wall coverings, eating implements and so forth were brought specifically for each hunting trip.

My initial concerns that I'd be swallowed up by the crowds and hoards of tourists were soon dispelled. The chateau itself is huge and so are the grounds, so even if there are coachloads of visitors everyone is really spread out.

You need a good few hours to properly explore Chambord, not just the chateau (which is huge) but also the grounds. It is also possible to hire a boat but we didn't have time to do that or even to explore the forest, in spite of spending about 4 or 5 hours there.

The above photo was taken on the roof, and shows more detail of the amazing architecture.

Francis even wanted to divert the Loire river and bring it to the foot of the castle. But faced with the enormity of the task he diverted the Cosson instead. The moat was supposed to go around the entire castle, but only the northern and eastern sides were excavated.

Above photo is the exact spot where we stopped to have lunch by the moat, as my Polish companion wanted to view the chateau while we ate the bread and cakes we bought at the bakers earlier in the morning. A few spots of rain came down but luckily the day stayed mainly dry. It was good practice for me to have to speak French all the time and he seemed to understand me, even managing to discuss politics and all sorts of subjects that I didn't realise I had enough French for.

It took us a long time to see every angle of the outside, including going up on the roof. We both took loads of photos as it was impossible to capture enough of the essence of the place or to get enough in the viewfinder at any one time. The external spiral staircase in the centre of the photo above is similar to the larger main staircase inside, except the internal staircase is a double spiral.

You have to pay to go inside, although the outside is free. I'm still not sure if we didn't miss out loads of rooms but saw plenty anyway. The following photo is of the king's bedroom.


And this is the double spiral staircase, like a DNA helix, said to have been designed by Leonardo da Vinci. We went up a staircase each and met on the next floor up. I think it was probably designed for traffic in two directions, and was no doubt necessary if there were 2000 people walking between the floors in different directions. Although maybe it was just a design thing.

The photo only shows one side of it. Although I took quite a few photos indoors I was more impressed with the external architecture. I just wish my father had lived to see it all too, as he was astounded when I took him to the Sacre Coeur in Paris, so I can just imagine the astonishment on his face experiencing Chambord if seeing the architecture of the Sacre Coeur had such a profound effect on him.

I find it incredible that this Chambord chateau was built as just a hunting lodge to be used occasionally. Chambord has 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces and 426 rooms.

After Francis I death in 1574 the castle was practically unused for about fifty years. A couple of centuries later, after the French Revolution, there were plans to demolish it. Fortunately, the castle was saved. Since the 1930's the French State has taken care of restoring and preserving it.

The estate covers 5440 hectares surrounded by a wall and is the largest enclosed forest park in Europe. It is also a national game reserve containing many types of animals living completely wild, including wild boar and deer.

At the bus terminal in the grounds of the castle, which we had trouble locating, we met the Brazilian guy who was also staying at the same hostel in Blois. He had walked from the hostel that morning (took 1 hr 30 mins) to get into Blois town as he had missed the only bus on a Sunday, and was planning on seeing another chateau before returning, which meant also missing the last bus back to the hostel. Luckily he managed to hitch a lift on his return.

To get here by tourist bus (next to Blois station) the earliest bus you can take is about 11.15am and the last one back is about 4pm. The bus does a circuit of 3 chateaux for the same fare, so you need to retain your ticket if you are going on to the other ones and to get back to Blois.

I was due to go back to London the next day, but was glad I saw at least one chateau and didn't have the energy to finish the circuit anyway.

3. Blois Youth Hostel, Loire

According to the hostel handbook, Blois youth hostel was 5 kms from the train station, and I didn't know where to catch the bus or where to get off at the other end, so I went to the Tourist Office in town for a map. The youth hostel was off the map. The handbook had described the hostel as being in the countryside, in a charming little village near the forest. Great, I thought, at least I get to walk in a forest at last. Nobody told me, though, that the village had no shops.

Blois town itself seemed pleasant enough, built on two levels - a high walkway and a much lower level. Back to the grey slate roofs and muddy river, I was tired, thirsty and irritable after a horrendous journey from the Charente Maritime and just wanted to dump my suitcase somewhere and have tea.

I'd waited forever at Angouleme to catch the TGV fast train which had been delayed due to some accident, which resulted in missing my connecting train to Blois. I arrived an hour late in Blois and was not in the mood to work out the intricacies of the bus system, so the tourist office phoned for a taxi to take me to the hostel.

No this isn't the hostel, it's the Chateau at Blois. I only saw the outside of it, and had intended come back and pay to go inside sometime but never did. The woman at the Tourist Office for some reason felt compelled to give me her well-rehearsed speech about every chateau in the area while I was waiting for the taxi to arrive. Her "tourist presentation", which sounded automated as she probably gives this same info many times each day, was totally wasted on me and I had to plead for her to stop. I explained I was tired and hungry and needed to eat, in fact I felt a bit faint and ungrounded, and couldn't really care less about the chateaux. "I'm not a tourist", I insisted.

That's when I found out there were no food shops or restaurants in the village I was heading for. "Then I'll walk back into town later" I said.
"Oh, it's too far, she told me, and in any case it's too dangerous to walk at night by the river".

Then the staff got into a flap wondering whether they should cancel the taxi so I could eat in town first.

As it was getting late and I had to arrive at the hostel before 7pm or my reservation would be cancelled, I decided to at least show up and then decide what to do. The taxi cost 12 euros (instead of one euro by bus) but still wasn't expensive, and at least I would end up in the right place.

Blois youth hostel is an old house, which I'm told used to be a school. I had already felt this before I was told, because it seemed more like I was staying in a boarding school than a hostel, plus the woman who ran the place reminded me of a headmistress! It would have made a good setting for an Agatha Christie murder mystery novel.

I was impressed by the old wooden staircase that wound up to the first floor reception office. I wasn't sure how many nights to stay here as I didn't know how I'd managed without easy access to food shops, so I just paid by the day. If you ever come here, take food with you. Everyone who turned up the next day made the same mistake, and had to beg, steal or borrow for their dinner. The headmistress offered to phone for a pizza to be delivered as she was planning on having one too, so at least the first night's food was sorted. It was quite expensive though for what it was.

I learned that there is a curfew at 10.30pm when the front door is locked, plus no entry to the hostel between the hours of 10.30am to 5.00pm. A bus stop outside had an irregular bus service every hour or so into town.

"What's my room number?" I asked, hoping it would add up to 5 like it normally does. "Just choose any bed" she replied. There are just two very large dormitories filled with bunk beds, in what used to be the classrooms. One for males and one for females, with very high ceilings and the beds were in the centre as well as around the walls, so it was easy to get some privacy. There were only two other people staying at the hostel when I first arrived - an English girl from Yorkshire and a Belgian man. Both of them had their own bicycles with them, and I felt rather envious of the fact they had transport.

I desperately needed tea, and the headmistress gave me some teabags, milk and sugar. Three teabags is not a lot for an English person to survive on all evening and next morning so I asked if I could actually buy some teabags off of her.
"Oh no....I need them for residents breakfasts in the morning" she said, giving me a couple more from her cupboard which was stocked with what looked like a years supply of teabags. Considering there were only 3 residents in total I wasn't sure why she was stockpiling them, but was grateful for the few she DID give me, and she refused to be paid for anything too.

The huge kitchen, which was available for residents to use, was a delight. From the window I could see just trees and a few rooftops in the hamlet. The showers and toilets were in an outbuilding outside. The other girl who was staying there told me she had originally planned to book for 5 nights but had changed it to two because of the outside showers. It didn't bother me that much, as I was more concerned about the infrequency of the buses and the fact that on Sundays there was only ONE bus into town and ONE bus back to the youth hostel.

Next day I decided to go into Blois town for the Saturday morning market (mainly food) and buy my fresh veg there like the French do, plus other provisions from the supermarket.


The above photo is of a bar-owner in the market feeding his parrot. Unfortunately the parrot ducked his head just as I took the photo.

Went for a walk around the town, exploring both sides of the Loire river. Buying my groceries this early was a mistaken as my butter melted and turned liquid in the heat by the end of the day. There wasn't a lot to see on the other side of the river, apart from this delightful bakers shop which was closed (as they often are for 2 hours lunchtime) and some amazing old half-timbered houses.

I had a nice lunch in a restaurant in the old part of town. And went inside a church where there was an unusual shrine to Mary. It was behind glass, and she looked like she was standing by some enormous egg.

Some new guests started to arrive at the hostel. Firstly, a young Brazilian guy, who was doing a month's tour of both France and Spain by train, and who also arrived with no food. He hinted about sharing some of mine, and I felt embarassed that I'd only bought in the market exactly what I needed for one meal, as I was leaving soon for England. He managed to get a lift into town though, and seemed quite prepared to hitch (or even walk) anywhere. He spoke some English but no French.

Later an elderly Polish man arrived, who spoke French but no English, and was on holiday from his work which was based in France. He was doing a tour of the chateaux, and was telling me about Chambord chateau which is a short distance by bus from Blois. I had half-thought about seeing at least one chateau before going home, after all I can't visit the Loire valley without seeing at least one. It was a decision between going to Amboise and seeing the market, which was supposed to be one of the best markets in the area and not to be missed, and I could also have taken a tourist bus from there to one of the other chateaux. It would have meant missing the last bus back on Sunday (there was only one around 6pm) and taking a taxi back to the hostel. That, with the train fare would have made that the more expensive option and I was running out of euros and didn't want to draw more out.


The Polish man was talking about Chambord like he was talking about a woman he was in love with. He was obviously in awe of the architecture and said it was the number one chateau to see in the Loire. The one I was planning on seeing from Amboise was the second best, he said. Totally undecided, I left the decision until the morning. Being Sunday the next day I would have to make sure I caught the only morning bus into Blois town whatever I decided.

Next morning he asked if I'd made up my mind yet. I asked if I could accompany him to Chambord, partly because I didn't want to spend my last day alone (having felt really lonely the day before for some reason), and partly because he was enthusiastic about the chateau, having seen it before. I didn't really care which chateau I saw, and if we missed the last bus back we could at least share the taxi ride. He seemed pleased to have some company too, so Chambord it was.

2. Day trip to Chinon, Loire

I wasn't in Chinon long before I felt my mood worsen. Was it the same cloudy skies that were giving me S.A.D. in the middle of summer? Was it the energies in general, or just of this place? It was similar to how I'd felt in Tours. The town of Chinon was pleasant enough and is actually on the River Vienne rather than the Loire, although not far from the latter. I followed much of the River Vienne without feeling very inspired by it, or at least that stretch of it. Was it me or was it the place? It was hard to tell.

I went to a restaurant and ordered a steak. I felt annoyed over the incredibly slow service, that I seemed to be invisible to all the waiters, that I actually had to ask for salt on the table, and that I overhead a Frenchman talking about English people in an uncomplimentary way. He meant me of course. And I wasn't surprised, but a bit put out that he should generalise about a nation just because it was ME that was having a bad day. I felt incredibly 'down' without knowing why. I decided to cross out the Loire Valley, and Chinon in particular, off my list of potential areas to relocate to.

I had also done this side trip to Chinon thinking that it was within walking distance of a forest. I'd been looking forward to walking in the forest before heading back to Tours, but accordng to the Tourist Office it was too far to get to the forest without a car, plus there was nowhere I could even hire a bicycle. I had expected to do a lot of cycling in France and was disappointed at how difficult it was to find a cycle hire shop anywhere convenient. They need to have one near every station or Tourist Office - perhaps I ought to start my own chain of cycle hire shops. The bicycle is an icon of France, they revere the bicycle as it's part of their culture, the Tour de France is a national event, even traffic in France respects cyclists like they don't do in London. But finding a cycle to hire is another matter. I'd had visions of cycling down country lanes, past fields of sunflowers, through medieval villages on roads with hardly any traffic. My one memory of cycling in the French countryside, many years ago when I was living in countryside just outside of Paris and cycled to Chantilly on a borrowed bike, threatens to be the only memory I'll ever have of it.
So I guess I was feeling grumpy because I wasn't doing what I came here to do, and walking so much each day was leaving me exhausted, even though I'm used to walking a lot in London.

I decided that in the few hours I had in Chinon I'd walk up to the fortress on the hill, where there was also some kind of chateau. It wasn't until I got to the top that I learned that the chateau was closed for renovations, and there was nothing much to see up there anyway. I did however take some photos of the town of Chinon on the way up.



Slate roofs are more common in the north of France, with terracotta roofs more common in the south.

Once back in Tours I'd done more or less all I'd wanted to do there, including visiting two antiques markets. I bought two vintage perfume bottles as my only souvenir of Tours, and I took pleasure in admiring the design of them and felt pleased with my bargain purchase. Angouleme (further south) was my next stop, but I'll complete the Loire section here as my return journey brought me back to Blois, before taking the train west to Tours for my plane back to London.

1. June 2007 - Tours, Loire

2007 - When the plane landed at Tours my first impression was how small the airport was. Being used to Heathrow in London, I didn't expect a small area manned by two people checking passports with a white marquee outside for the entrance. I've since become used to France's tiny airports, often one room where baggage reclaim is in the same space. The shuttle bus then transported me to the city centre for 5 euros.

Tours has two stations, and it's worth remembering that St.Pierre des Corps is NOT the station you need to get the shuttle bus back to the airport when you return. I think this one (in the photo) was just called Tours or Tours ville. I had a hair-raising experience trying to get back to the airport after choosing the wrong station on my return journey and nearly missing my flight.

For simplicity's sake I'm going to keep all the locations together, even though I end up returning to the same location to get my flight back home after visiting other towns and areas of France. It is therefore not in strict chronological order.
Each town or location will also be dealt with in a separate post.

The station where the shuttle bus drops you off is in the modern part of town. The tourist office is only across the road, so it's worth getting your town maps and anything else you need while you are there. The old (and more attractive) part of town is about a 30 minute walk from the station, and is also where the youth hostel is. Tours youth hostel is great because you get your own room and its also in a good location. It is a few minutes walk to Plumereau Square, which is the main square surrounded by bars and cafes, where most people seem to hang out.

I'd booked into the hostel in Tours for the first 3 nights, and had a detailed schedule to travel north to Le Mans youth hostel, and thereafter explore various towns and villages that seemed to be a good place to re-locate to, following the Sarthe river. I didn't realise until after this trip that an underlying desire was to live near one of France's many rivers, and the Loire seemed as good a place to start as anywhere else especially as it was easy to travel to Paris from here on the fast train. Even though I wish to move to a more rural location, I still don't want to be isolated in the middle of nowhere, especially as I don't yet drive. So my quest was to find the town I wished to live close to, and once that was decided I could then refine my search to the surrounding countryside. I intend to buy a bicycle initially, until I've taken driving lessons and passed my driving test, so any location would have to be no more than a 30 minute cycle away from a large town.
But actually there are no large towns in France outside of Paris and Toulouse, most towns being villages which you can explore by foot in a day.

The architecture of the old town took my breath away, as it was the first time I'd seen this many half-timbered ('colombage') houses in one place. I was less impressed by the river Loire, which looked muddy and uninviting. I was put off it even more after taking a stroll by the river one day and being followed by a stalker. I managed to lose him by walking very fast and ignoring whatever he was calling out to me, and walking over the first available bridge.

The weather wasn't helping either, as it rained most of the time I was there. You may think I should be used to this living in London, but actually the weather had a more depressing effect on me than anything London has put me through. After 3 days I just had to get out. The grey metallic sky seemed to be having a strange effect on me, it was closing in on me and making me feel suffocated, and I even started to feel sorry for the inhabitants who had to live beneath these grey leaden skies. The energies felt different, and although I had my route carefully planned out before arrival, I just discarded my plans because I knew I needed to head south. I decided to take it a day at a time.

I'd previously seen the long queues at the train station, so decided to get up early one morning to buy my ticket for going further south. The above photo was taken in the early morning after a downpour, when the streets were still quite empty and quiet. At the station you can't just get on any queue as each one is for a different purpose, and if you get on the wrong one you have to queue all over again. My mood improved after I'd purchased my train ticket to (hopefully) better climes, and I decided to take a day trip to Chinon, which is an hour by train from Tours. I'd already discovered all of Tours by foot, had been to the summer sales and bought some clothes, been to the park, the bars and the restaurants, where I was often relegated to an upstairs room by myself as I was dining alone. This is strange to me, this tendency in France to penalise customers who eat alone. There is absolutely no ambience in eating in a room by yourself where the waiter forgets about you and everything is happening on the ground floor. I think solo diners should be appreciated as much as couples or groups, so I now refuse to eat in any establishment that tries to do this.