A tour of Tours

We did a quick overnight trip to Tours to check out the city and the surrounding chateaux.  I love traveling by train -- it is so convenient to be able to read or look out the window and not concentrate on navigating or watching the road.  We took the TGV train from the Gare Montparnasse and within about an hour we were in Tours, which is about 125 miles south of Paris.

We walked north from the train station to the Jardin François Sicard, where we got our first look at the cathedral of Tours.

But we were still about a block from the cathedral, so we stopped to look in the gardens at the Musée des Beaux-Arts.  The museum building was formerly the palace of the Archbishop of Tours, and in the courtyard is an enormous Cedar of Lebanon planted in 1804.  The tree is so large that its lower branches are supported by wooden beams.

The museum's formal French gardens were very beautiful as well.  I loved this decorative flowerbed and the perfectly rounded shrubs nearby.

Our next stop was the majestic Saint-Gatien Cathedral, built between the 12th and 16th centuries.

The stained glass windows of the clerestory were inspired by the windows in the Sainte Chapelle in Paris.

It was Sunday afternoon and we got to hear the organist rehearsing.  The pipe organ was built in the 16th century.  Amazing.

One thing I found interesting about the cathedral is that some of it has not been restored, so you can see faded and partial frescoes on the walls. 

The children of King Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany are buried here in a marble tomb.

This is the view from the nave looking toward the Rose Window above the entrance to the church.

We continued north toward the river, passing the 11th century Château de Tours.  The former royal castle is now an art and historical museum.

Across the street we found the pretty Pont de Fil pedestrian bridge.

Stepping out onto the bridge we got our first good look at the Loire River.  This is the view toward the Pont Wilson.

It was starting to threaten to rain, and we still had a ways to go to find our hotel.  But along the way, we took a few snaps of the pubs we saw (there seemed to be an overwhelming Irish Pub presence in town, not sure why). 

We raced the rain trying to find our hotel using a hand-drawn (by me) map, which made it challenging.  Tours is a beautiful city, and quite a change from the hustle and bustle of Paris.

But we didn't make it to the hotel in time.  There was a huge downpour and we had to take refuge with some other unlucky tourists in a passageway off the Place Plumereau.

Place Plumereau is a large square in the heart of the old city.  All along the south side of the square are restored half-timber houses from the 15th and 16th centuries.

As it turns out, our hotel was just one street away from the square.  We checked in and waited for the rain to stop so that we could continue exploring the town.  Within an hour or so, the sun was back out.

We walked over to the Woodrow Wilson bridge.  It is the oldest bridge in the city that is still standing (built in the 1670's) and was rechristened the Wilson bridge after WWI.

A lovely view of northern Tours across the Loire.

Just below the bridge we noticed this busy bar, so we went down to check it out.

It was an idyllic setting for a sunny Sunday afternoon.

People were playing cards, chess, and board games that they rented from a counter up at the bar.  This one looked really interesting; I would have loved to try it out. 

Even more interesting was this group of thirtysomethings who showed up wearing outlandish outfits and carrying band instruments.  Hmmm what were they up to?

We decided to stick around, have a few more boissons (drinks), and find out.

In the end, we were quite glad we stayed once they started playing.  So fun!



Turns out "Boules de Feu" ("Balls of Fire") is a group of about 30 doctors and medical students from Reims who also happen to be amateur brass band musicians.  They were pretty good, actually.  They played for more than an hour with no sheet music.  Highly entertaining!


And here is their version of "Toxic" by Britney Spears: