Day off in La Croix-en-Touraine, which we started by finding laundry services, which turned out to be an entirely automatic washer/dryer setup in the parking lot of one of the local supermarkets, under a glass roof but otherwise open – picture an oversized bus shelter with a short row of machines built into the back wall.
We found a nice cafe with WiFi while the washing machine rid the world of some touring cyclist funk, came back to the hostel to hang clothes to dry, then it was off to Chenonceaux, one of the classic Loire chateaux.
I forgot to take a cameraphone pic (took lots with the actual camera!) but everyone has seen photos of Chenonceaux: it’s the chateau that is also a bridge over the river that’s in every collection of French tourist propaganda ever.
We coughed up the rather steep entry fee and spent almost three hours looking around. It’s a fascinating building, with links to everyone from Catherine de Medici to the French Resistance during WW2. It’s not actually that large, either, which surprised me. It overwhelms with complexity and detail rather than sheer size as some grand buildings do.
Back on the road tomorrow, through Tours to a place in the countryside near Chinon, west and south of Tours.
