Chinon

On our Saturday in the Loire Valley there were just too many things that we wanted to do and not enough time to do them all in. We decided to visit the village of Chinon in the morning, which was about 30 mins train ride south west of Tours. Unfortunately we missed the first train by about a minute so we had an hour to wander through Tours before the next train.
We made our way to Cathedrale St-Gatien, which was built between the 13th and 16th century and then walked, to the Loire River and back through the old part of the town. I just love French streets, cobbled roads, balconies of flowers, wooden shutters it’s all so quaint, so pretty, so oh la la French!
We made our way back to the station and on the train. When we steps out of the station in Chinon though I was a little concerned – there was No One around… Nick looked at me as if to say… well we have 24 hours left in France and you bring us here? I persisted though and went in to the station to ask the ticket man which way we should walk to the centre of town and we set off. After 15 mins walking through empty streets I was starting to feel a little silly… then we saw one person, and then a second… and a third… Still though we had seen no shops or anything else – Just gorgeous French streets – every one a perfect picture. Finally we found a few locals drinking in a temporary bar they had set up in the street selling glasses of Rose with a little stall next to it selling bread with pate. We decided to join in with the locals and bough a glass of wine and some bread. With that little stop I was content that Chinon was worth the train trip until we turned the corner and there was a festival in progress. There were stalls and stalls of food and wine and crafts on sale and all hidden away in this little village. We still haven’t been able to find out what the festival was for, (I’m going to say it was for our benefit) but it seemed to be complete with tents with set menus etc. There were 100’s of people there and the atmosphere was fantastic, the children of the village were even dressed up in traditional French outfits.
After I had eaten way too much goats cheese and French bread Nick and I set off up the hill to the Chateau built on the side of the hill. It was no way near as fairytale as the one the previous day but the view was Spectacular (as you can see in the photos)
So after all that my idea of heading to Chinon was a complete success – Nick even admitted it hehehe
That night we had dinner in French café in the touristy part of Tour and spoilt ourselves with a crème caramel and a crème brulee - soo very very good
Ok so it’s bed time for me now so I’ll say good night – hope you are all well – Miss you all, Cherry xxx