Exploring Loches: a day off the bikes

October 21, 2009

Weather: rain

We woke up to heavy rain, and were very glad today was a rest day. Exploring Loches on foot with our umbrellas seemed like a good plan. A generous breakfast, complete with boiled eggs and homemade yogurt, was served downstairs at a nicely set table. We chatted with an Aussie couple and an English couple who were both planning to be here at the Logis for dinner tonight along with us.

The breakfast table in one of the common rooms.

We checked out the weekly market before climbing up to the chateau at the top of the hill. The chateau was very interesting, if grim on this cold grey day, and we climbed a lot of stone steps to the upper levels. We don't see many fat people in France, and we're wondering if it's partly because there are so many staircases, both indoors and out, and hardly any elevators. After trudging through the cold stone rooms of the castle, it felt good to retire to Entr'acte restaurant for a warming menu du jour lunch. In the afternoon we found a hardware store and bought some bolts to replace the one that had fallen out of Eva's bike rack.

The imposing old keep of the castle maintains its brooding presence.

Heating a stony old castle must have taken many large chunks of wood -- no doubt considered state-of-the-art heating system technology in its day.

In this room of the castle, not far from a large fireplace, in June of 1429, Joan of Arc apparently encouraged Charles VII to present himself in Reims to be crowned king of France.

A hearty salad for lunch at Entr'Acte in the town centre.

Dinner at our chambre d'hote had been highly recommended in the Tripadvisor reviews and we were looking forward to the evening. Unfortunately it turned out to be disappointing. The food was just okay, but the wine was atrocious—the white was sweet and the red was thin. We were really surprised. Even the conversation was a bit of an effort (in English no less) especially when the other guests started talking about their cars—the Aussies had a Porsche and the Brits a Lexus or two. Also the British woman had loved her cruise into Venice. Nice enough people, but we didn't have much in common. It was a relief to retire upstairs to our room!

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