Orleans to Blois (3/9)

The market in Chartres the next morning turned out to be disappointingly small so we headed for Orleans. The countryside around here is given to broadacre farming, and the farms look extremely prosperous with huge barns and generally lots of outbuildings. The crops grown (there are no sheep or cattle to be seen - therefore no fences) include potatoes, maize, and seed crops of one sort or another. There were several towns along the railway with huge silos, and wind generators spread across the countryside.

Inside the cathedral in Orleans

Orleans is a large town and seems to live off its Joan of Arc history, because it doesn't really have much else to offer that we saw. It had suffered damage from bombing, as had Chartres, and much of it has been rebuilt in the original 18^th century style. In fact they have recently finished quite an extensive refurbishment program for the central city area and it looks quite smart. We had a quick look in the cathedral which was not huge, but much lighter inside than Chartres, but decided not to visit J of A's house. From the outside it looks pretty fancy for someone who was supposedly a peasant girl.

The front (updated) view of the
 Chateau de Meung-sur-Loire 

We bought some baguettes for lunch and decided to visit the Chateau de Meung-sur-Loire to eat our lunch in the gardens there as it was a beautiful day. This had been a former residence of the bishops of Orleans. It was started in 1207 when it was built as a rectangular castle of four towers of which three are still part of the building, and as a result a chapel, dungeons and a water-torture chamber still exist. During the Hundred Years War it was taken by the English, only to be lost to Joan of Arc. The castle was abandoned after the Religious Wars, and then later taken on by another bishop who undertook an extensive rework program. He added a wing either side of the existing building in the Classical style and reworked the existing building to match. Unfortunately for him he ran out of money so the back of the building still looks medieval. Almost all of the building is in desperate need of restoration, and there is work being carried out on the chapel at the moment. 

The linen press and other domestic tools
at Meung-sur-Loire

 The parts of the chateau that are not currently lived in have been set up as a museum. Some of the rooms had been set up with a specific person in mind, and others had some quite interesting collections in them. The original bishop's bath was still in place – a plunge-pool like you might see in one of the smaller Roman villas. It was lined with copper and had a small set of steps leading down into it. To have used it would have taken a lot of organisation as it would take quite a while to heat up 40-60 buckets of water after having hauled them from the well! In another room was a whole display of baths of all different sizes, but there was no indication whether these belong to the owners of the castle or was on loan.

We got Tourist Information to book us into the Hotel Anne de Bretagne in Blois. Anne de Bretagne was the last independent ruler of Brittany, and was born in Nantes and died in Blois. She was twice queen of France. The hotel was quite small and homely, and centrally located. Jill had carp for dinner that night and it reinforced all the prejudices she has against that fish. She thought is was fairly tasteless and was thankful for the herb butter that went with it.