Day 36 - Tuesday 9th October
Boussac - Geuret - Boussac
Late rising today, after sun up .. 9am!
Plan to get a few provisions from Boussac today but first visit a garden in Gueret, Le Jardin Public Ferdinand Villard, about half an hour trip. The garden was small, unimpressive and much of it was under redevelopment with men and machines working in fenced off areas. The Museum of Art and Archaeology facing onto the gardens may have been interesting but it was not opened on Tuesdays. Today, being Tuesday, was not our day, for that reason and we got lost heading back to our car. I was relying on the Offline maps on my phone to keep track of our car, but the GPS chose not to work. However, we used the photos that Linda had taken on her phone as a bread crumb trail and finally after showing her first photo to a friendly local, we found the car. B....y technology!
We headed for Boussac and replaced the depleted stock of icecream and a few other groceries before looking for the Boussac Chateau. The road to the chateau was steep, windy and narrow and I parked at the top of the approach road that looked very much like it would take me over the side of the cliff the chateau was perched on. So we walked the very downish then very uppish 10 minutes to the Chateau. An elderly Lady of diminutive stature, less than 5 feet, was our French speaking guide. She did give us English booklets that described history, rooms and items as we followed her up and down through the chateau. The main vertical thoroughfare was a tower containing a spiral staircase reaching all the many floors. There were many tapestries on the walls and floors as rugs dating back to the 17 th century that originated from the Aubusson area, about 50 km away, famous for the tapestries produced there over the centuries. There were also many items of furniture, astronomical instruments, library books and much more.
One item that fascinated me was a small canon on a platform about 200 mm diameter. Mounted above it was a magnifying glass and behind was a sun dial. The platform used to be oriented so that at lunch time, the sun would shine through the lense heating up the canon, igniting gun powder in it and thereby announcing meal time. Ingenious! Very pleased with what the chateau had to offer.
The ice cream in the car was melting so we returned to camp for yet another late lunch about 3:30pm. Intrepid adventures first, lunch when you can.
The rest of the warm day was spent at the cabin.
Day 37 - Wednesday 10th October
No big plans for today apart from washing ready for most of the rest of the trip and relaxing around camp. I get a day without driving.
The Baker arrived just after 10am with her van of French bread types. No sliced bread like we are used to so chocolate croissants and raisin croissants had to suffice for lunch today and tomorrow.
While the washing machine was doing its thing, we played table tennis indoors next to the pool. The rule was (our rule) whoever hits it into the pool has to get it. The issue was our towels were being washed so we could not dry ourselves. Linda was first, but managed to reach the ball from the edge. I was next but managed with a noodle. The clothes were in the dryer while we had lunch .. croissants and omelette, yum.
During lunch the wind started to blow strongly, which made it feel a bit cooler outside. This only lasted a couple of hours and the blue cloudy sky and mild breeze returned. We spent the afternoon first in the cabin listening to youtube music and science podcasts on my phone during the rain then table tennis, swimming and more table tennis until dinner time. Time well spent. Linda made good use of a noodle in the pool, floating and breast stroking (pardon my clumsy terminology). It is unusual for Linda to enjoy swimming but all the conducive elements came together and she was very pleased with the experience.
At reception I spoke to Guilliam to settle our bill but the sheets and towels we hired were no charge and the rest had been prepaid so instead we talked about our trip and his relatives and friends living in Australia. Yet another very friendly Dutch fella. With that settled, we can make an early departure tomorrow morning. Linda decided to finish off the wine so it would not be a problem tomorrow. Two glasses, however, and she had to lie down with her head spinning. Wine in the bottle, no problem. Linda drunk, big problem.
We have had the windows open for fresh air but because there are no fly screens on the windows they have been open for fresh insects too. I caught eight of the biggest ones, ones like mosquitos but 10 times bigger, in Linda's empty goblet and released them outside. A few small problems removed .. the big one still remains.
After a glass of water, some sleep and an ice cream, that one seemed to be solved too.
Day 38 - Thursday 11th October
Did I say early start today? We got up at 6:15 alright but during my checking of our itinerary, I realised we have another day here! Linda then chose to reclaim some slumber she felt she was entitled to but denied, so went back to bed, not having had a good night's sleep, perhaps because of her last evening's inebriation. I emailed my travel agent for a copy of our Eurostar train tickets that somehow I did not have a copy of. Said tickets promptly arrived in a return email, much to my relief. Another possible disaster averted. I then caught up on some YouTube lectures from the Royal Institution on physics and astrophysics and reading the book I brought on the trip but have not read much of .. a book about the universe by Brian Cox.
Late morning I dragged Linda out of bed and we walked down to reception expecting it to be open, but it was not. Walking back to the cabin, we discovered why. All hands plus helpers were putting the cover on the outdoor pool, in preparation for shutting down the camp for winter next week. I offered my Australian assistance to the international team which included French & mostly Dutch, with most instructions in Dutch and a few for me in English. Job accomplished, I then returned to reception and Elizabeth, Rainier's partner, printed a copy of my train tickets for me.
Back at the cabin, putting the tickets in my folder I found the original copies I could not find before! Linda just rolled her eyes when I told her. She does a lot of that.
Lunch of croissants, chocolate of course. Afternoon spent table tennising, swimming, table tennising, reading, etc. The table tennis tables had metal (3mm aluminium) nets painted white with large hexagonal holes and a couple of horizontal crimps to keep them rigid. Very low maintenance, particularly for the outdoor tables. Very good idea. Warm day, a few clouds in the sky, slight pleasant breeze on the cabin front porch overlooking the pool (now covered) and the bar/restaurant/indoor pool building with the foreground and background filled in by the autumn colours of deciduous trees.
Day 39 - Friday 12th October
Boussac - Blois
Left camp about 8:30, another warm day expected. Targets today are Chateaux Chenonceau and Amboise, the first about 2.5 hours estimated (by GPS) driving time. Not far from Boussac we replenished our fuel supply at a service station with a reasonable gazole price and a real person to take my electronic cash .. off to a good start. One of the roads warned us in French that the road 3km ahead was blocked. We continued any way, not seeing any detour signs, and sure enough a bridge was under major repair and a detour was required. A quick look at the GPS map and we found an alternative route. I drove my way and the GPS got the idea after a while and recalculated a route instead of telling us to make U turns. The alternative was partly a very narrow road, wide enough really for only our car. Fortunately we had the road all to ourselves for the duration, even though we did pass a gypsy camp by the road, caravans, wagons and stuff.
We spent a couple of hours thoroughly investigating all the possible shots that Linda would look good in, and a bit of the chateau, and had lunch before a 25 minute drive to Amboise. We found a non metered car park along the Loire river and walked 10 minutes to the chateau. Many more photos, some even of the chateau, then a lengthy souvenir hunt by not me. We reached the hotel in Blois about 6pm, pretty tired.
Had dinner in the French restaurant across from the hotel. The dinner had a French name on the English menu but looked very much looked like shepherds pie. We both enjoyed one. The restaurant was right next to a car wash I intend to use in two days time before I return the Renegade to its rightful owners. I already cleaned most of the insects, collected over the last 4 weeks, off the front of the car this morning before starting off.
I noticed a couple of flashes from roadside posts today while travelling at the speed my GPS advised, 90kph. I suspect that I may have been exceeding the limit, damn it. Europcar will advise me in due course, no doubt. Looking forward to that.
Day 40 - Saturday 13th October
Slept in till 7:45 then breakfast in the hotel. Linda had a video chat via Facebook with her sister and Bel then at 9:30 we walked into Blois (about 40 minute walk) and found the Saturday market spread all around a city block and more. They sell here everything you can think of and a lot of things I had not thought of. Pedestrians only in the market streets, of course. We bought a punnet of delicious strawberries to eat while we perused. Walked to the north end of the Rue Denis Papin then up the staircase with black and white areas painted on the vertical faces of the steps, forming a very large mural of a spiral when viewing the steps from a distance. We then went around the Rue de Palais to le Jardin des Cinq Sens (Garden of the Five Senses) where there was also an outdoor exhibition of cartoonists drawings on the theme of 'freedom of speech'. A large group of people were walking from drawing to drawing and listening to a lengthy description by a man that looked to me like an arty type. The cartoons looked pretty self explanatory to me, though.
We walked down the hill back to the market and had lunch outside of a cafe. Panini for me, pizza for Linda and a gooey, rich brownie each .. yum. Linda could only eat half of hers so I had the other half .. 1.5 x yum. I ordered in French and by way of apology for my clumsy speach, I explained I was trying to practice French. He wanted to speak English to show off to his daughter who was working behind the counter beside him. So I spoke my French, he spoke his English and despite that, we received what I ordered, with a bit of good humour on the side. We then walked through the market to the huge Abbaye Saint-Laumer .. very impressive building, then back beside the Loire River to the Jacques Gabriel bridge. We crossed the bridge and continued straight ahead to the hotel, arriving about 2:15pm.
After a rest from that odyssey, I drove the car all of 50m across the street to the car wash and 7 euros later the car had been (manually, by me) washed with high pressure hot water and soap, rinsed with high pressure cleaning water and 'aspirated' (vacuumed) on the inside. No sign of the estimated 4000 km of insects and grime left. Ready to return it to its rightful owner, Europcar, tomorrow.
Dinner from Kim's Box tonight, a couple of minutes drive away. Linda jumped at the opportunity to have an Asian meal for a change.This was emporter (take away) beef dish and a chicken dish, supplied with chop sticks, that we consumed in our room. Very tasty and satisfying.
Day 41 - Sunday 14th October
Blois to London
Breakfast at the hotel again this morning. A 20 minute drive with the sun in my eyes brought us to the Chateau Chambord just before opening time at 9:00. We spent the next 2 hours climbing through the chateau, and I really liked the double spiral staircase ascending through the centre of the chateau. The design of this chateau is thought to be by Leonardo da Vinci, because he had been invited by the French king to France at the time, even though the plans of the chateau are no available today.
We then set our final destination for the car GPS to the Europcar office at the side of the Gare do Nord. Along the way large numbers of wind turbines stood out covering large areas, sometimes spreading out from beside us all the way to the horizon. Very impressive.
Not really knowing what expect, I followed the GPS directions up the centre of Paris and made a wrong turn close to the final destination. After going around the block and making another attempt, I realised the entrance to the underground carpark is where I should be. I missed it by a couple of meters but backed up with a tolerant and understanding vehicle behind me allowing me some room. At about 15:00, I parked on the -2 level and found the Europcar office up on the ground floor. Apparently I should have parked it on the -6th floor but they said they can handle that. I asked if they could tell me the odometer reading of the car when I first hired the car, so I could subtract that value from the reading I had just made a note of and know how many km we just travelled. I waited for about 15 minutes, expecting them to look up their computer, but they did not seem to be doing anything about it. I think they mistakingly sent someone down to read the current odometer reading. We were anxious to get to the Eurostar train so we left with that explanation. Hopefully the distance will be on the bill. We bought a late couple of jambons for a late lunch in the station. The information desk advised me that I must take the lift to the first floor for the 9043 Eurostar train to London. First, there was a queue to the two lifts and reaching the first floor were long queues to get through French passport check, then through British passport check, then through security. We eventually sat in our seats about 10 minutes before our 16:43 train left at 17:08, 55 minutes late! It was late, apparently, because of two evacuations of Gare du Nord earlier in the day. We decided to have a meal on the train so we would not have to find an eating place in London when we arrived. That was a toasted ham and cheese sandwich and a hot chocolate each. We arrived in London at 18:30 local time, 1 hour behind France, so 2.5 hour trip at speeds up to 300kph.
Quickly, hailed a taxi outside of St. Pancras Station and about 5.2 km later (I followed our plotted route using my phone gps) and 17 pounds plus 5% tip, 85p, checked in to the Central Park hotel, in the rain. To get to our room, we had to take the centre of 3 lifts down to level B, then another lift down to level -2. Ok, so no windows down there but very pleased with the modern room. It has a backlit glass feature wall with a silhouette pattern of tree branches on it whose illumination can be dimmed down to off. It gives the impression of sunlight outside of a large window. Nice feature. Linda loves (free) wifi for facebooking too.
Day 42 - Monday 15th October
Breakfast at Pret a Manger in Queensberry St., 5 minutes walk from the hotel. (Strange attraction to French eating places.) It rained last night so everything is wet but not currently raining. It is overcast and for the first time this holiday it is cool enough for me to wear a jumper.
We bought 2 days of the Big Bus, a hop on hop off bus, the same company as in Paris. A stop is just around the corner in Bayswater Rd.
We hopped on a blue route bus and changed to a red route bus at the marble arch and listened to the guide tell us what we passed all the way to stop 16, near the tower bridge.
We then walked to the river cruise which took is back to stop 18. We walked up the James Park and had lunch in the cafe. We took an orange route bus from stop 38 and hopped off at stop 35, just near Madam Toussaud's. We used the discount tickets we bought from the Big Bus guy at stop 38, £32 instead of £35, and walked in to see what the madam had to offer.
Apart from the variety of wax figures of celebrities, there was a 'taxi' ride showing a history of London, and a very impressive 3D superhero movie projected onto the hemispherical ceiling of a large theatre. A couple of hours very well spent.
About 3:30 asked a big bus driver if his bus was a blue route bus and he replied it was. It wasn't! We took an extended trip and he kicked us off the bus about 5:15 at stop 1 and told us it was 2, the one we wanted. This apparently was the time the service ended. It was after sundown when we then navigated our way back to the hotel using one of their maps because the GPS on my phone again had stopped working. Reached the hotel about 7:20.
We then walked around into Queensbury St. where lots of the eating places were and dined in a typical English restaurant, the Kam Tong restaurant serving fine Chinese cuisine. Retired to the hotel feeling a bit tired but content.
