A Day in Blois

June 17, 2024

A few chores

At breakfast we met a German couple, Jan and Ruth, who were also on bikes for their holiday. They were quite friendly and it was fun to compare notes. We commented on how much we have enjoyed our time in Germany and they joked that it surprised them that anybody says anything nice about Germany. The comment has somewhat akin to how we feel about the US, and our distress about our country, so we are surprised when visitors tell us they love it so much. And of course, there is much to love about the US….we just need to remember that. Anyway, it was fun seeing their cycling set up; no e-bikes, camping gear included, so they clearly were in another league from us.

Jan and Ruth about to embark on their next adventure.

I spent all morning working on the journal. I was behind and worked at the breakfast table with copious cups of tea until about 1 pm, and even then, I wasn’t caught up. Dave took off to do the laundry, with no incident, and returned back around 1 pm. The rain had abated and we took a walk through the town and saw the Blois Chateau, which is different because it is right in town, rather than being on large grounds with moats, hunting grounds, gardens etc. The original gardens once extended beyond the castle and up the hill in an area that is now the Blois train station. Blois was once the center of power in France when Louis XII moved his court here in 1498. Blois was bombed in WW2 leaving most of the medieval center in ruins but the Chateau survived.

Your basic laundromat of which I've become a sel-described aficionado.

We enjoyed this auspicious post-rain sight as we began our walk.

For a very late lunch we sat down at a poke bowl place by the train station and split a small very good tuna poke bowl. We crave rice and veggies to counter balance all the bread, dairy, meat, etc.

Jill with our gracious hosts, Dominique and George on the front steps of their inn, La Perluette.

Because it had been such a hard day - just kidding - we had a nap and bath in the afternoon and walked up that evening to our dinner place: Dominque, our other host, had kindly made a reservation for us at L’Oratoire, a local restaurant that sits across from the Chateau. Had the weather been clear we would have sat outside and enjoyed a view of the castle, but since it wasnt, we sat inside. I actually had a main course that I had not seen in France before on this trip- a bouillabaisse - which is a seafood stew. Dave marveled at how well each piece of seafood was cooked. We split a nougat dessert, which turned out to be nougat with ice cream and toppings and chantilly (whipped cream prepared the French way). We reflected that after this trip when we think of France it will include the images of chantilly on every dessert. Honestly, not a bad image.

We have an early train ride in the morning so it’s early to bed for us.

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Jan HenkelHello, thank you very much for your kind feedback on our brief encounter and the stimulating conversation in the early morning. We are now back in Cologne and full of positive memories of the tour and the nice people we met. Sometimes we also wished for electric support after 4 hours in the headwind. 😅. We wish you continued great experiences on your bike.
-The bike is the key to new worlds und undiscovered paths-
Best regards Ruth und Jan
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