Tuesday 11 Sept 2018 Azay to Paris

Indre River through Azay

We took the TGV to Paris with Peter and Barbara and said goodbye at the station. We went on to our hotel for two nights, the Hotel Cluny Square near the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank – very near where we stayed the last time in Paris. It was short-sleeve weather hot. The last time we were here in mid-September we had to wear a fleece vest under a windbreaker.

Our little street scene

We had enough time before dinner to do a walk and visit the Pantheon and Luxenberg Gardens. Outside the Pantheon was a very moving display following a young French Jewish girl through her harrowing experience as a prisoner during WWII. Luxenberg Gardens on a Tuesday afternoon was busy with joggers and walkers – when do the French actually work?

Pantheon

Wednesday 12 Sept 2018 – Paris

Place de la Concord near l'Orangerie

Our 5^th anniversary today! We celebrated by visiting the Muse de l’Orangerie – an impressionist art museum. The museum was modified extensively to house one of Claud Monet’s final masterpieces – two elliptical rooms with 2-meter-high panoramic paintings of his beloved Giverny gardens, meant to be a calming place to visit following WWI. Other impressionists were displayed in standard gallery fashion. All were a collection by early 1900’s dealer and patron Paul Guillaume. 

For our anniversary we took an early evening Seine dinner cruise with Bateaux Parisien. Great meal and sights from a different perspective. We walked the three miles back to our hotel to work it off.

Last day in Europe. Home tomorrow.

City of lights

Sunday 9 Sept 2018 Amboise to Azay le Rideau

This was a long day on our heavy hybrids – 42 miles. And hot, high 80’s. We did a picnic on the grounds of Chateau d’Artigny in Montbazon that has been converted to a 4-star hotel.

Our hotel in Azay, the Bienicourt, is 3-stars, but maybe the most cramped we have stayed at this whole trip. We’re asking for different room for the second night.

Along the road

Our navigation system is working well. I have the Garmin GPS loaded with the route and Lauve has the que sheet provided by the tour company. One is a double check on the other. It would be frustrating and stressful to do the rides with only one of the two. Peter and Barbara had the same arrangement.

Monday 10 Sept 2018 – Loop to Chateau de Villandry

What can I say – another beautiful day riding through the countryside on smooth, well maintained roads with little, if any traffic. Agriculture today was mostly orchards – apple and pear. It was harvest time so we did stop to sample – delicious. Lauve got stung by a bee or wasp as we traveled through the fields. It didn't look so serious till we got back to the hotel. Then it started to swell and itch - ouch!

The major stop for today was the chateau in Villandry. This chateau has the most beautiful gardens of any we have seen. It was also the most modern and complete in its renovation. You could almost envision living in it except for the lack of bathrooms.

Love garden

Kitchen garden

More kitchen garden

On the way back to Azay we road along the Cher River and past its confluence with the Loire.

We did get our room changed to a much bigger, more comfortable room – yeah!

Wednesday 5 Sept 2018 – Orleans to Blois

We spent the day walking to the high points of Orleans Museums - Joan of Arc, Fine Arts and Anthropology. Then took a late afternoon train to Blois for the start of our bike trip. Our bikes were delivered to our very small B&B, La Masion du Carroir. Our innkeeper had limited English, but we got by.

Thursday 6 Sept 2018 Blois loop to Chateau Chambord

We started at the bike shop for some adjustments then found our way out of town on the way to Chambord – 25 miles round trip. Most of the ride was on well-marked bike paths but having the route on the Garmin made navigating less stressful. It took us through forests and vineyards. Rain threatened, but it ended up sunny for most of the day.

On the way to Chambord

The chateau was spectacular – the architecture, the massive size, the beautiful grounds. These people had money! The route back to Blois was along the Loire.

Chambord

Chambord detail

Friday 7 Sept 2018 Blois to Amboise

Along the Loire and through countryside with vineyards. Visited Leonardo De Vinci’s house, Clos Luce, in Amboise – the place he spent his final years. Stay at Manoir du Parc in Amboise – our best hotel so far. The rooms were big. There was a nice garden for happy hour.

De Vinci House

His workshop

Saturday 8 Sept 2018 – Loop to Chateau Chenonceau

Sunset on the Loire in Amboise

This is the chateau built across a river, the River Cher. It was spectacular, but in a different way from Chambord. This one was not nearly as grandiose from the outside, aside from being built across a river, but had much better appointed and grand living quarters. The weather was bright and sunny with the temperature peaking at a still comfortable 86.

Chenonceau

A mushroom barn in the woods on the way back

Tuesday 4 Sept 2018 – Moreton-in-Marsh to Orleans

We took the early train to London Paddington then Peter treated to the taxi we needed to get to St Pancres for the Eurostar TGV through the chunnel (at 180 MPH in some parts) to Paris. Then we use the Metro to transfer to Austerlitz for our train to Orleans. A long day.

After checking in at our hotel, The Empreinte on the Loire, we roamed the around the city center and had Thai for dinner. 

It is a little bit of a shock switching from easy English to trying to communicate in broken (at best)French and English. If I relax and take it as easily as they do we get by - just can't get into any depth.

St Croix Cathedral

At Joan of Arc Square

Monday 3 Sept 2018 – Moreton-in-Marsh

Last day in the Cotswolds. We did a weeks’ worth of laundry at the Launderette then off to the Batsford Arboretum, a short walk back along the way we came yesterday. We heard it had great trees and flowers but felt we had seen plenty of native trees in the last week, so we skipped that and did the raptor free flight demonstration associated with the Arboretum. It had some similarities to what we have seen at the Desert Museum, but this was more free-form. With a couple of the birds they were trying to get them to hunt in the adjacent field. They also had people in the audience handle the birds. It was interesting enough that we stayed for the second show. 

Tonight last night happy hour and dinner with our group.

Sunday 2 Sept 2018 Chipping Campden back to Moreton-in-Marsh

Our last day of walking took us to where we started – Moreton-in-Marsh – just less than 7-miles. It was a perfect short-sleeve day. People were out walking and doing pub lunches. We caught a very handsome group “bowling on the green” in Blockley – quite civilized sport!

Our route for the walk

Saturday 1 Sept 2018 Broadway to Chipping Campden

Today’s walk was short, but steep at first – a climb similar to Tumamoc Hill in Tucson. The total for the day was 5.5-miles. The feature was Broadway Tower perched at the high point 700 feet above Broadway. Built in 1800 by nobleman from the area. There are several theories about why, but the most likely is that it was a time of architectural extravagance, so he built it because he could, and it made a statement.

View back to Broadway from the Tower

Linda on top of the Tower

Chipping (chipping means market) Campden feels more Cotswold than Broadway. The High Street has classy art and antique stores and fewer ice cream and souvenir shops. This is one of our favorites. Our hotel was the Noel Arms.

One of the many varieties

Some observations as we near the end of our Cotswold experience:

One stand-out feature has been the local people. To a person, they have been welcoming, courteous and genuine. It adds to the unspoiled reputation of the region. London hospitality was much more typical of international big cities.

All draft beer is served in glasses with the maker’s name – Beck’s beer is served in a glass with Beck’s written on it, etc. May be that the brewers supply the glassware for the pub as long as they serve in their glasses.

We are staying in mostly four start hotels and only one hotel room had a phone in the room. 

In the iconic red English phone booths, the phones have been replaced by AED’s – defibrillators.

European credit cards are all contactless (you just pass the card over the machine) and require a pin giving way more security than ours. On the other hand, the restaurant computers cannot issue separate checks for different parties at the same table. The server must stand with the table bill and divide all the items between each party. The surprising thing is that they are polite when asked to do it.