An Ernest Hemingway Kinda Day

On our last full day in Tours, we decided to just walk around the city before eating lunch down by the river.

We decided to have a picnic lunch a-la-Ernest Hemingway. We grabbed a baguette and a rotisserie chicken to eat by the river. We were already blocks past the grocery store, so we didn't have a bottle of dry white wine like Hemingway always drank, especially with his chicken and baguette lunches.

I got chickened out pretty quickly as did Lindsey, but Mona scavenged that chicken. Weird thing was, the grease was a strange neon green color, but the chicken tasted good.

We went out for Moroccan for dinner, which just reinforced my desire to go to Morocco. God that food is amazing.

Tours was everything I think of when I think about a smaller French town. Kind of quaint in a great way - amazing architecture, delectable cuisine, châteaux, croissants and wine.


After an anxiety-ridden airport experience, Tours was just the thing I needed. Besides one day of feeling terrible, I only have good memories of Tours. It was another city, like Belfast, that wasn't too touristy, and I can't wait to have an excuse to return.

Châteaux-ing in the Loire Valley

After a lovely breakfast of croissants, pastry, and tea, we went to the tourism office and decided to visit a couple châteaux, and the office provided a driver.

It was the three of us and a couple from the UK plus our driver, Pascal. The weather was gorgeous, and I loved the châteaux we visited.

The first one was called Chenonceau, and Pascal told us that the King had given it to one of his many mistresses, but the Queen Mother reclaimed it once the King had died.

Anyway, it was built over the river. The inside was classic royalty - everything was detailed, even the extremely high ceilings. The grounds were beautiful; I love French gardens.

Then we went to Amboise. Apparently, Leonardo da Vinci spent the last couple years of his life there. The castle wasn't as impressive, but there were these weird bushes there.

We wandered about the town - it was really cute. When we got back into Tours, we just walked around for a bit before calling it a day.