Tours

Sunday 26 July

Good sleep and lovely breakfast in the Garden Room at Hotel Mirabeau. Excellent hotel, 500m from the station and we have the room that features in its advertising.

Off for 6.5 hours of walking in Tours. Tours stradles a spit of land between the Loire and Cher rivers and is a cathedral city with a bourgeois reputation and an old quarter dating to the 14th - 16th centuries.

Tourist office to plan tomorrow, then followed Rue Nationale through Place Jean Jacques and past the magnificent Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) to Pont Wilson to cross the Loire (had intended to tram this section - but out of service today).

Had a beer on the river (beautiful day in mid 20c's, rising to 30c at 6.30pm). Then into the old artisan quarter and Place Plumerau with its clustered ancient houses, the remains of the Archbishop's Palace and cafe streets. Bagette for lunch on the river then up to Rue Colbert (the path of the ancient Roman road) to Pont de Fil, Tours Chateau, Cathedral St Gatien and its 15th century cloisters

Finished with a walk through gardens of the Museum des Beaux Arts (massive 200 year old Lebanon cedar - 45m wide at its base level of foliage) before heading back to Hotel Mirabeau for a rest. Finished the day with dinner at La Peche aux Moules on Rue Colbert (massive plate of cream mussels and chips washed down with a Chinon red - Marie would have loved it).