Ok the original plan for today was to hit a chateau in the morning, another in the afternoon, then on to Chartres.

The plan started off fine. We went to Chenonceau, a beautifull chateau famed for spanning across a river. It is a very popular tourist destination, with the result that there was a hell of a queue to get in, but it was worth it. By the time we came out it was lunch time so we grabbed some bread and cheese and set off.

Lunch was partaken on the bank of the Loire facing the medieval ruined castle at Montrachard. All we were missing was some red wine, but I had to drive so Pak had to suffer 😀

Our next stop was The Big chateau, at Charmond. Now this took us longer to get to than we expected, so we didn’t park until past 15:30. It is massive both inside and out, and I’m still not sure we fully explored it before it closed at 18:30. The drive to get there was fully justified, however Chartres was not out of the equation as it would be between 8 and 9 before we’d arrive to find a hotel.

We decided to head towards Rouen and after about an hour look for a hotel. 45 minutes later and we’re just entering Orléan, so we headed for the Hotel D’Orlean again and spent a second night there.

Food wise we set off and decided on a paella. Well it sounded like a good idea, however it took ten minutes to get a menu, the table behind us got theres when we sat down, and some 10-15 minutes later still no one had come to take either of our orders so we left and they followed. We went to the traditional French restaurant next door and had a very nice meal, though possibly more expensive than we originally intended.