The original plan for today was to drive to Bois, then Amboise before hitting Tours for the evening.

We stopped for lunch at Chaumont, eating some pizza we picked up from a boulangery on the way, the had a look round the chateau. It was a bit small and not worth then entry fee, especially considering the steep hike to get up to it.

After that we decided to skip Bois, though we did drive through it, and instead went to Amboise. A pleasant couple of hours were spent there, though we did make the mistake of going to Leonardi da Vinci’s house instead of entering the Chateaux. It wasn’t bad, but it was packed and lacking on displays. If we’d had time spare, I think we would have hit the castle.

From there we went on to Tours where we drove over a pedestrian area outside the cathedral (see a pattern to this holiday yet ?). We found a basic, but new hotel (Hotel Mondial) off a small square (Place de la Resistance) very near the old quarter (3 minutes walk away). There was a public car park outside which from 6 p.m. until 9 a.m. was free. We met an English couple there who had come over to Tour on the spare of the moment. They had a problem, which was she was a vegetarian. During the 1990s, as the health food fad reached France it might have been easier for her to get a meal, but these days, forget it. Net result was they were having problems (or rather she was as he was as much of a carnivore as us).

We wandered in to the main square, checking restaurants out on the way. A drink there proved surprisingly difficult as most waiters seemed to be on strike, but after changing bar once we got a few drinks, then went to a rather good restaurant near by. We even noted it had both a vegetarian starter and main course, so we passed these details on to the previously mentioned couple.