June 9 – 14

The next morning would signal the beginning of our true test of the train system and also take us into uncharted territory, the Loire Valley.  We would be spending two nights in Blois and to get there would require taking a couple of trains, beginning with the first out of Paris’ Gare Montparnasse Station.  Our first leg would take us to St. Pierre Des Corps and would require a reservation, for a total cost o f 24-Euros ($26).  The second leg into Blois didn’t require one, but later during the trip we’d regret not purchasing them for a couple of the legs. 

Gare Montparnasse was about 40 minutes away in the south of town and for a while we considered just using the last of our bus tickets to take Line 96 as it went straight there.  As we’ve gotten older though from time to time, we take the easy way out and, in this case, it would be a taxi ride for 34-Euros ($36.55) ensuring that we would start off a long day of travel on a less stressful note.  Also, we opted to enjoy the breakfast at the hotel at a cost of 16-Euros ($17.14) for the two of us, filling up on fresh croissants, a pastry or two, yoghurt and cheese. 

Soon enough our taxi arrived and within a short time we arrived at the train station and locating the schedule board, ascertained the track number our TGV (high speed train) would be going out on and with some time to kill, found a place to sit down and wait.  Montparnasse is a large station with an impressive array of food options, kiosk after kiosk offering many choices.  As the trains don’t always offer food for sale and stops at stations along the way are usually short, it is wise sometimes to buy a sandwich or two to consume along the way. 

As mentioned in an earlier post, we’d settled on the Loire Valley over the Dordogne as we’d not been there, and we felt there would be enough non-hiking activities to keep us busy.  As it glides gently east to west, officially separating northern from southern France, the Loire River has come to define this popular tourist region.  The importance of this river and the valley’s prime location, in the center of the country just south of Paris, have made the Loire a strategic hot potato for more than a thousand years.   Today, this region is still the dividing line for the country—for example, weather forecasters say, “north of the Loire…and south of the Loire…”

Because of its history, this region is home to more than a thousand castles and palaces of all shapes and sizes.  When a “valley address” became a must-have among 16th-century hunting-crazy royalty, rich Renaissance palaces replaced outdated medieval castles.  Hundreds of these castles and palaces are open to visitors, and its castles that you’re here to see (you’ll find better villages and cities elsewhere). Old-time aristocratic château-owners, struggling with the cost of upkeep, enjoy financial assistance from the government if they open their mansions to the public.

It was a quick journey to St. Pierre Des Corps, a station we would become familiar with in future days as it is a central connection for many of the towns in the valley.  Traveling around the Loire Valley is best done in a car, as train and bus connections are sporadic and not always convenient.  We grabbed a coffee and a snack at the café in the station and waited for our train to Blois, which soon came and before we knew it we were walking out of the station to walk to Hotel Anne de Bretagne Blois, our lodging for the next two nights.  Recommended by Rick Steves and family owned, we found the place charming and the staff to be friendly and efficient. 

It was too early to check in, but able to stow our luggage there and with some time to kill, we decided to throw caution to the wind and split a bottle of local Rose for 12-Euros, because there is nothing like an engaging afternoon wine buzz to color the rest of your day.  Later, as if no time had passed, we checked in and then, under the influence of that Rose, managed to haul our luggage up three floors (no elevator) to our room.  This would be a common theme of the trip, that is having to muscle our good-sized bags (26-inch wheeled trunks) up and down narrow twisting stairwells and on and off trains. 

Once settled we set off to explore the town, a little bit of a hike as we were lodged between the small downtown and the train station.  We located a small Carrefour market for some supplies and it being late in the day, began to search out our dining options.  As it would turn out, the two highly rated restaurants in town were both booked up so we landed at Les Catalpas, tucked down an alley way a couple of store fronts down from one of the restaurants we struck out on. 

We seemed to be the first customers of the evening and so were seated quickly underneath a large tent on an outdoor patio.  Joanna ordered a cider, and I had a jug of house wine for 9-euros while we perused the prix fixe 18-euro menu, and decided on two different three course versions, a cheese and walnut salad for me and a pate salad for Joanna. 

Both were good sized and of good quality, setting us up for our entrees, the Andouillette Grillee, a French coarse-grained sausage made from the intestine of pork, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings for Joanna and the Piece Boucher au beurre maître d’hôtel for me, a cut of beef referred to as what the butcher would choose for himself if he didn’t have to make a living by selling it.

We were pretty full when we finished our entrees, but gamely soldiered on to consume our desserts, for Joanna a cheese plate and for me the Craquant Chocolate (a chocolate pastry with a caramel sauce), the pastry being the star of that course.  All in all, it was an excellent meal and a great bargain at a total of 49-euros ($53), a very happy ending for picking a restaurant at random. 

The next day, our one full one in Blois, would be a busy one, with a visit to two chateaus in the area, the Blois Chateau (Château Royal de Blois) in the morning and one of the most famous, Chambord Chateau in the afternoon.  We will cover our visits to both in the next post and until then, enjoy a glass of French wine or cider if you’d like.  It will help paint a picture. 

Links

Hotel Anne de Bretagne Blois: https://www.hotelannedebretagne.com/en

Les Catalpas: https://www.yelp.com/biz/les-catalpas-blois