Tours, France (October 5-7, 2006)

I originally intended on making my stay in Tours (on the Loire River, about two hours southwest of Paris) rather short to break-up my trip from Germany to Spain. Frank and his parents had suggested the Loire River Valley for its many elaborate castles and having just been in Paris in August, I opted to stay away from the big city.

I arrived in Tours late on Wednesday, October 4th, after a 10-hour train ride from Mannheim. The youth hostel was basic but good; I had my own room and they offered a breakfast (albeit of stale bread). Thursday I slept in and spent the afternoon exploring the city and then doing laundry (since everything with me had been worn at least 2-3 times!). It was quite an experience to try to figure out how to use the laudromat facilities in another language! I had also run out of my travel deodrant by this point and went all over town trying to find a store that sold deodrant (I'm still unclear what kind of store actually sells hygiene products, but I did find some at a little convenience store for 5 Euros - probably the most I've ever paid for deodrant in my life!).

Thursday night I fixed myself dinner in the hostel and hoping to meet some people, decided to eat in one of the hostel's common areas (although it was full of French-speaking students). I sat down at the table with them and in very broken English, we began talking and hanging out. They eventually invited me to go to the old town (where young people of Tours hang out), where we went dancing at a little basement club. Even without being able to communicate very well with each other, it was still fun to get to know and spend time with some new people!

There are over 300 chateau in the Loire River Valley (30 open to the public), so I splurged on a bus tour Friday to see several of the most famous ones. I enjoyed it so much that I extended my stay in Tours to do another castle tour on Saturday afternoon. I highly recommend the Loire River Valley as a travel destination for anyone who likes viewing fantastic castles, sampling wines, and enjoying a beautiful countryside similar to that of the Rhine River or Tuscany! And if you end up going to the quaint, little town of Amboise on a castle tour, go to a little cafe across from the castle called Bigot... the hot chocolate and quiche were by far the best I've ever tasted in my life!

For the complete photo journals for Tours and the Chateau of the Loire, visit http://www.AndreasOdyssey.shutterfly.com.