2023 - La Loire à Vélo: Day 18: Sat 10 Jun

18-23 degC, cloudy with patches of sun, humid, with a few spots of rain

Walk: 10km; total: 142km

We slept in a bit this morning and subsequently had to deal with a very busy breakfast room. It soon thinned out as a tour bus arrived outside, ready and waiting to take their patrons onto another destination. Something Wendy has not seen before in her travels is the boiled egg cooker, she thought it was a toaster when viewed from afar. Well, it does look like the outside of a toaster but with a water well inside and a temperature dial on the outside. It also has these little baskets to put your egg into and then lower that into the water. Time it for the appropriate number of minutes and simply lift your basket out with the egg. The only issue is you can’t then run the egg under cold water to cool it down to peel it so they’re a bit tricky to eat.

After breakfast we planned our self-guided walking tour for the day to maximise the amount we see. Yesterday, at the info centre, we were told that there would be lots of markets today, so first up we visited the flower market. Unfortunately, we were a bit early and not all of them had unpacked all their flowers. Also, it was a bit overcast, so not very good for taking flower photos. The other market we visited was the food market, both outdoors and inside at Les Halles de Tours, very similar to the one in Lyon. We walked through the old town where there are numerous really old buildings that have been lovingly restored but still look old. We missed the Natural History Museum because its position on the tourist map was not quite correct. Not to worry, we had enough other stuff to keep us occupied. Basilique Saint-Martin was really old and stunning inside. We revisited the Cathedral Saint-Gatien and then the Museum of Fine Art. This was Greg’s second visit and he enjoyed it again. The variety of exhibits were outstanding and old (dating back to the 14th century) Masters works were top shelf. However, the “dark” stuff is a little hard on the senses and we tended to sail past them. As usual we weren’t impressed with the new modern ‘fine’ art. After a detour to find the Grand Theatre, we came home via the Central Railway Station and were a tad peckish as we missed mornos, so had to stop in at Maccas for lunch. Well fed, we strolled back to the hotel for a rest.

Greg went for another short stroll to find a restaurant for dinner as it is Saturday pub night. Nothing found we came home and we decided to eat in at the hotel restaurant.

Flower market

Les Halles

Basilique Saint Martin

The original Basilique made by the Bakers Artistic Club, from flour, water and sugar. The glue is rye flour and egg whites. The stained glass windows (below) are made from edible gelatine. So, you could eat the whole thing, however, we suspect it may be a tad stale.

Rear of Saint Martin

Charlemagne water tower, or what’s left of it

Charlemagne Tower

A quiet Saturday morning back street

The Monster, and Greg

Place Plumereau

Not sure what they serve up at this cafe?

Hotel Gouin

Tram lines

Pont de Fil or Saint Symphorien foot bridge; originally built in 1847 and rebuilt in 1962

Chateau de Tours

Cedar of Lebanon, a tree of significance in France. Planted in 1804, it is 31m high, has a span of 33m, trunk circumference of 7.5m, and the branches cover an area of 600sqm