Tours Encore

"Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, the death of each day's life, sore labour's bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, chief nourisher in life's feast."

(William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act II, Sc.2)

Ah beautiful, restorative, uninterrupted sleep.  How nice that Ross didn't cough during the night.  Finally some rest!  He is better and all is right with the world again, A-l-l-e-l-u-i-a.

It was a lazy second day in Tours today.  We wandered the now familiar pavement past the magnificent Town Hall, stopping frequently to browse the shops along the way.   Ross was eager to buy some clothing with some 'French-ness' about it but we soon discovered that in the age of the multinational, there is no such thing.  Everything was much the same as you would find anywhere else - similar brands and all made in Asia.  Even slogans across T-shirts were all in English rather than in French -  perhaps it is considered more exotic.

Tours Town Hall (again)

Our feet took us as far as the Loire River and then back to the Cathedral where we found a shady bench in the forecourt and sat and watched the world go by.  It is a rare luxury not to be in a hurry and to be able to watch life's little stories unfurl before you - the tourists clutching cameras hurrying in and out of the Cathedral, the little dog pining for its owner and eagerly wagging its whole body when she reappears, the Cathedral bells chiming midday, and the sparrows darting between the benches picking at whatever crumbs they can find.

Lunch was a filled baguette sitting on the grass in a sunny park near the railway station and then a lazy afternoon with a book.  

And the fine and warm evening saw us out on another stroll but this time towards the west side of town.  Not so interesting and more mundane, grey, and commercial. There was one hidden gem tucked away in an unremarkable square announcing itself only when its bells chimed the hour, the rather grand St Etienne's Church.

Eglise St-Etienne

And so the sun set on our second day in Tours, the gateway to the Loire Valley.  Tomorrow we start to explore the Loire Valley in earnest when we visit chateaux, market towns and vineyards.