Sunday, May 22, 2005
A Tour of Tours!
We had a free day on Saturday, having done bike prep and only having to take departing guests to the station at 9.15am, so we decided to take advantage of this and head into Tours….having checked the Rough Guide, there wasn’t much we really wanted to see – didn’t fancy the museums – so we decided just to enjoy the “day out” and wander. We headed for the cathedral, only to find a communion/baptism for teenagers taking place, so we continued on our wander, up to the Loire (not very spectacular!) and then down the little streets. One seemed to offer any cuisine you could think of: Indian, Chinese, Lebanese, Kebabs, etc – pretty cosmopolitan considering the rest of the city! We then headed towards the Place Plumereau (the trendy place to hang out!) but stopped for a coffee and croissant en route, as is de rigueur for a late morning caffeine and sugar hit! Place Plum’ was nice, full of restaurants, and much older buildings with interesting facades, and we continued to wander round the narrow streets. We found a flea market, selling anything people had dug out of their attics (stuffed animals, gas masks, furniture, crockery…), an open air fruit & veg market, with huge grapes, loads of white asparagus, and sumptious looking produce, then there was “Les Halles” – an indoor market with fixed stalls, selling fruit & veg, fish, cheeses, bread & meats – a fascinating display of fresh, delicious looking food, and would be lovely to have as your local shops! Then a general market (something along the lines of Blackbush market, but somehow more interesting for being in France!) which then turned into a flower market. We then made our way back to the Cathedral, just in time to see the communion/baptism service end and empty onto the streets, allowing us to get in and admire the very impressive stained glass windows. We sat out in Place Plum’ for lunch, deciding to be true tourists! And then headed for the Museum of “Compagnonnage” – master craftsmen: ironmongers, blacksmiths, carpenters, cake decorators, breadmakers – and a display of some of their work. Bizarre, but at the same time, quite impressive, for example someone who’d made a model of a building out of pasta!! It was a shame there wasn’t much info in English as my knowledge of French vocabulary of these specialist subjects is somewhat lacking! But we got the jist!!
And to end our afternoon, we headed for the Vitiloire festival…and now you will find our ulterior motive for going to Tours – Vitiloire is a wine festival taking place in the city this weekend!! Basically the main street and central square has been taken over by tents with wine producers of the area, and for 3€ you buy a wine glass, and then can go round tasting as many as you can!! Having done similar at Vinopolis in London, and the Sunday Times Wine Club wine tasting day, I have to say I was slightly disappointed… the wines were all very similar tasting, e.g. all the dry white wines were still what I describe as creamy – just what I hate!! But we did find a few reds that were very nice and have made note in the hope we can get them in the local supermarkets! We managed about an hour and a half of sipping and swigging, before we had to escape to a café to have a sobering coffee and pastry!
All in all, a very pleasant day!
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We had a free day on Saturday, having done bike prep and only having to take departing guests to the station at 9.15am, so we decided to take advantage of this and head into Tours….having checked the Rough Guide, there wasn’t much we really wanted to see – didn’t fancy the museums – so we decided just to enjoy the “day out” and wander. We headed for the cathedral, only to find a communion/baptism for teenagers taking place, so we continued on our wander, up to the Loire (not very spectacular!) and then down the little streets. One seemed to offer any cuisine you could think of: Indian, Chinese, Lebanese, Kebabs, etc – pretty cosmopolitan considering the rest of the city! We then headed towards the Place Plumereau (the trendy place to hang out!) but stopped for a coffee and croissant en route, as is de rigueur for a late morning caffeine and sugar hit! Place Plum’ was nice, full of restaurants, and much older buildings with interesting facades, and we continued to wander round the narrow streets. We found a flea market, selling anything people had dug out of their attics (stuffed animals, gas masks, furniture, crockery…), an open air fruit & veg market, with huge grapes, loads of white asparagus, and sumptious looking produce, then there was “Les Halles” – an indoor market with fixed stalls, selling fruit & veg, fish, cheeses, bread & meats – a fascinating display of fresh, delicious looking food, and would be lovely to have as your local shops! Then a general market (something along the lines of Blackbush market, but somehow more interesting for being in France!) which then turned into a flower market. We then made our way back to the Cathedral, just in time to see the communion/baptism service end and empty onto the streets, allowing us to get in and admire the very impressive stained glass windows. We sat out in Place Plum’ for lunch, deciding to be true tourists! And then headed for the Museum of “Compagnonnage” – master craftsmen: ironmongers, blacksmiths, carpenters, cake decorators, breadmakers – and a display of some of their work. Bizarre, but at the same time, quite impressive, for example someone who’d made a model of a building out of pasta!! It was a shame there wasn’t much info in English as my knowledge of French vocabulary of these specialist subjects is somewhat lacking! But we got the jist!!
And to end our afternoon, we headed for the Vitiloire festival…and now you will find our ulterior motive for going to Tours – Vitiloire is a wine festival taking place in the city this weekend!! Basically the main street and central square has been taken over by tents with wine producers of the area, and for 3€ you buy a wine glass, and then can go round tasting as many as you can!! Having done similar at Vinopolis in London, and the Sunday Times Wine Club wine tasting day, I have to say I was slightly disappointed… the wines were all very similar tasting, e.g. all the dry white wines were still what I describe as creamy – just what I hate!! But we did find a few reds that were very nice and have made note in the hope we can get them in the local supermarkets! We managed about an hour and a half of sipping and swigging, before we had to escape to a café to have a sobering coffee and pastry!
All in all, a very pleasant day!
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