A short stay in the Loire Valley

After our breakfast in the hotel, we went walking. First objective was to find the Cathedral. This is quite a gothic pile, with high vaulted ceilings and stunning stained glass windows. There is a big renovation going on in the north transept, but we were able to access the very old cloister with it's first floor scriptorium that has it's own special stone spiral stairs.

It had been raining while we were in the cathedral, and it felt quite cold with the wind when we came out. Walking towards the river we came to the Chateau of Tour which is now a museum, then crossed over to walk along the bridge over the Loire. It is very low at the moment. Everyone says it's already down to August levels. We saw terns with their chicks on the sandy islands mid stream.

Now we continued along the embankment to one of the main roads into the town. We found lots of old half timbered houses with small doorways, many with different patterns of bricks between the timbers and also some interesting stone work. In the middle of this old town area there is a roman/medieval burial ground surrounded by tall old houses, just off one of the main squares.


We also found a lute maker. The main square had some tall buildings with pointed gable ends, making us think of Holland. There were plenty of references to M. da Vinci and Dan Brown's fictitious conspiracy!
More interesting buildings, and eventually we came to the relatively modern St. Martin's Basilica, built on the site of an old cathedral. The north and south towers still remain, but most of the old building has disappeared. It would have been huge.

After visiting the Basilica, we went in search of a crepe for lunch - Breton galettes with ham and cheese and very tasty, too. The cafe had it's own old staircase beside their loos, which we were invited to see! Then we made our way across to the Guild museum - thinking of Mr. Pratchett. We were lucky it was open, as the guide book said it wasn't. We saw some beautiful pieces of work made by the top craftsmen on display and a short film, all in French about various pieces. It was very interesting. But it was time for them to close, so we left and made our way back to the hotel. We tidied up and then went off to the bistro of local specialities for a fishy dinner, which was very good, but they were so slow at the end we gave up on dessert and came back for a not too late night.


Tours
Cathedral of Tours
St Martin's Basilica
Musée du Compagnonnage