Snippets from Amboise

Amboise on the Loire. A bridge crosses the river from one side to the island in the middle to the other side. We stand at the foot of the castle walls with the chateau looking down on us. After a hectic several days of one-night-here and two-nights-there, we are here for three glorious nights.

Here are some snippets from the second day...

• alarms go off in the morning, even though we didn't need to get up early. :-(
• breakfast downstairs. Trudy and I go and leave Ben to come on his own as soon as he gets out of the shower. (It took six wake-up calls to get him out of bed, and we were not about to miss breakfast!)
• we go do laundry and the laundromat near the center of town. I go to track down change, failing first at a restaurant nearby, failing again at the tourist information center, succeeding finally at a small super market, where I also buy necessities for the rest of the day: a baguette, chocolate, apples, carrots, and a block of emmentale cheese.
• walk to the island. Have lunch there, sitting on a bench in the shade watching school kids play games at the far end of the field. Nap under the oak trees at the upstream point of the island while Ben goes exploring.
• return to Amboise proper. Tour the chateau. Look down from the balconies and ramparts on the river flowing slowly by under the blue sky and summer sun as the swallows dart around the grounds.
• eat at a pizza place. Ben has lasagna. We all have ice cream for dessert. After the stress of having found a place to eat, it is good to just sit and watch the world walk by.
• Ben goes back to the island by himself while we go back to the hotel, take showers, and then take another nap. (Travelling is hard!)
• Ben returns right on time. My comment about calling the police if he didn't show up promptly at 10pm must have got his attention.
• Trudy falls asleep. Ben and I write in our journals. The sun hasn't set. Swallows fly by outside our window that opens out onto a narrow street. People walk by on their way home for the night, their footsteps and voices drifting in thru the window. I run out of space on the page and don't have so much else to say so I stop.

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Trip to France - Day 10
Amboise

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