We managed to catch our next train from Gare de Montparnasse down to Tours, with too much hassle but getting our hire car was another story. On the internet, it said their office was located in the terminal but in reality it was over 6km away. After searching, we found which bus to catch out there but were dropped off about 2 km short of the office….so those lubberly bags were dragged again…I’m close to hating those bags by now !!! In typical French style, when asked about the misinformation, the girl behind the desk shrugged her shoulders and asked ” it is my problem why ?” meaning she didn’t give a …… Oh dear… this is all the stuff that adventures are made of, eh ?
Now driving on the wrong side of the road, with no map… the car didn’t come with one and we were warned that if we did not “live” the paperwork in the car we would be fined 20 euro…anyway, we made our way to Chambray les Tours situated south of the city, where we were staying for the night. It was quite a pleasant surprise actually so we were happy with our choice there. We dropped our bags and made our way back into town and had a few hours wandering around the city - getting quite disorientated and well, lost…. but we saw some great markets, with antique musical playhouse and merry go round…had some mulled hot wine as the temps plummeted and then went home for dinner. We went to a small restaurant next door which specialised in German foods - but we declined the hogs feet and sauerkraut and had steak….our waitress was good fun and that made the night fun.
Up till now we’d rarely had a fine day for weeks - since that memorable day in Switzerland on the train really… but on our last full day, France put on a beauty for us…. actually this was another memorable day - driving around the French countryside, finding all sorts of castles, big and small, intact and not, having the best baguette ever, seeing troglodite buildings, the River Loire which is wide and runs strong, met some Aussies in a shop in Azay de L…. will get the name…..and had a good laugh at Glenn trying to order a lemon tart in French …we ended up with cake…we were enthralled to find a castle called Clos Luce in Amboise, where Leonardo lived and died and where some of his many inventions have been built to his specifications - he was an amazing man - absolute genius…. by the time we had done all that, it was getting dark and we had to find our final resting place for our time in Europe. I had booked us into a restored Castle -called Chateau des Ormondes- run by 3 gay guys so it is beautifully decorated etc. We were the only guests so they upgraded us to one of the swankier rooms… wow is the best way to describe it… with great views from our turret, heated floor in the king size bathroom, full breakfast and all luxury. They suggested another castle for dinner - de Noizay and it turned out to be THE VERY VERY BEST meal we have ever eaten… we can tell you all the gory details if you ask but it was simply outstanding and the chef seemed to be focused on serving us double the courses we ordered !!! We were very happy campers.
The next morning we went for a walk with the resident Lab, Big Vick up through the hillside behind our chateau, finding some new vines and generally enjoying the crisp air. We reluctantly set off back to Tours to return the car and get the trains back to the airport. Easier said than done… firstly, we couldn’t find our way through the city and got thoroughly lost - so difficult with one way streets etc, then trying to find the petrol station to fill up with, then the taxi not showing up, then the bus not stopping, having to drag the bags another 3km, running down the main street of Tours with our bags in tow, to arrive breathless at the train at 13.18..it left at 13.20…whew !!! that was close and we had allowed hours to get that all done - so thankful we made that train…or we would have missed our flights from Paris to Frankfurt… and then from Frankfurt to Johannesburg…
It was a long day and night and the food on Lufthansa was great and the staff pretty kind. I didn’t sleep much due to restless legs again and they swelled up rather badly again - I find myself standing up the rear of the planes for most of our flights these days as I just get too uncomfortable in the cramped seats.
We arrived in to Jo’burg but our bags took so long to come out and the domestic terminal so far, far, away, that we missed our connection to Capetown..” sorry madam, there are no flights to Capetown today - they are all full. Please sit down and wait.” ” Madam, please run a few km down to this plane and see if you can get on - maybe some one will not show up ” “Oh dear, there is no room… no wait, we can take one of you” Don’t know what you will do now madam ” ….a long story cut short…. Glenn got on that flight and I managed to get on the next after that…Helen & Leon also had a long wait at the airport wondering where we had got to !!! We were all relieved when all persons and baggage ended up at the right place ……but I think it was a good example of TIA for us (this is Africa) Again, the attitude seemed to be that it wasn’t of any concern to them if their company didn’t function well….”it is not my job madam “ hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
