The Loire Valley (Monday 29th July 2013)

If you're ever in the area of the Loire Valley and you're looking for somewhere to stay, stop in Poitiers because.... because.... because... no, sorry, I can't think of a good reason to stay. Keep driving. The town is not bad, per se. It's nice and clean and uncrowded.... that's it! It's uncrowded, there was no one there. We stayed in a hotel in the centre of town next to a pedestrian only plaza. There were a small handful of restaurants open, none with any exciting menus to offer. Maybe it's because it was a Sunday night, in the summer holidays and every resident of the town was somewhere more interesting.

I could find nothing about Poitiers in any of the guide books. The meal we had was of average quality at an above average price. The worst combination. At least we had reason for an early night.

We ducked down to the plaza for breakfast the next morning and the town continued to not impress. At 10:00am the only place open was a place pretending to be an American coffee shop. If I'd wanted an American experience I'd have gone to McDonald's. The selection of things edible for breakfast was short and poor. The espresso I ordered was served as a long black and crap coffee at that. Did I say the coffee was served? Sorry, it was get up from your table and order at the counter! I've been in France for almost three weeks and had countless coffee's and not once has a smiling, elegant waiter not dashed out to take my order. When the order was ready the staff hollered from behind the counter for you to get up from your table again to get your coffee!! The final insult came when Emily pointed to the sign asking that customers clear there own table!! Kerry and I refused but Emily insisted, so she did. This is not a reflection of the way things are done and in no way reflects on France or the French people. End of rant.

We drove to the village of Chambord to have a look at the Château de Chombard. This is a very impressive building set on expansive grounds, with a canal and a moat. The private forests surrounding the Château are equally impressive. Built by Francois I in the 16^th century to be the most impressive château in France, he ended up spending on 42 days there in total. Many other major figures in the French nobility have called it home over the centuries.

The architecture is stunning with the highlight being the central double-helix staircase which give access to all four floors – supposedly designed by Leonardo da Vinci. The rooftop views provide a sweeping panorama across the whole of the estate. I hall the chateau has 448 rooms, some very large and some large enough to make Harry Potter's room at Privet Drive look like a grand ballroom.

We go to see about 60-70 rooms in what is a labyrinth of halls, rooms, passageways and alcoves. The angles of the roof-lines and the towers provide so many interesting photographic aspects. It's lucky we have digital cameras these days!

After lunch Kerry took the keys to continue her growing relationship with the Clio and the French roads as we head towards Ruoen. We arrived at about 6:30pm with big black clouds hanging overhead and roadworks blocking off the main bridge across the River Seine into town. Needless to say GPS-girl couldn't handle it so we out her out of her misery, turned her off and did the best we could to reach our destination. We tried to find room at the central Ibis hotel but they didn't have any three person rooms. So we headed out to the area just outside the city centre. There we found a room which could accommodate us.

Ruoen is a very difficult town to negotiate by car. Many roads are one way, there are many “no left turns” when you want to turn left and just as many “no right turns” when you want to turn right. The road surface is poor coupled with very worn line markings on the road. The latter is pretty common all across France, actually.

We dropped our bags and headed into the old city for dinner. Like Poitiers, the city centre was mostly closed up at 8:30pm on a Monday night. I think we haven't seen the city at its best and, to be fair, maybe the same for Poitiers. We found something to eat near the hotel and headed home out of the rain.