Loches

My time in Paris has flown by extremely quickly. I can hardly believe that the month is over. Today was the last day of classes. Last night was our farewell dinner. It really has been in the blink of an eye. I will be posting a few blogs in the next couple of days to let you all know what has been happening the last couple of weeks.

First I would like to talk about my trip to Loches. Many of you know that Mimi's mother was a Deloach and the name hailed from Loches, France. When I made plans to come to Paris, Mimi insisted that I visit the town of my ancestors. The weekend of the 16th was a free weekend for our program so my friend Mariam and I set out for Loches. We took a train from Paris to Tours then a bus from Tours to Loches. All in all, the travel was painless and inexpensive. I did only a little bit of research befoe we left. When we arrived, I was armed with only a few names of hotels in the town. However, Loches was so small that it was not hard to navigate, even with luggage and a tiny bit of French. Hardly anyone in the town spoke French but we managed well. In Paris, one can speak English almost everywhere. This was an interesting change for us and we took it as a challenge to test our skills. We went to two hotels before we found one that had a free room. The hotel was inexpensive and the people were kind. They spoke slowly for us and were patient. After checking in with the hotel, Mariam and I went up to the chateau. The chateau de Loches sits a the top of a hill and it can be seen from almost everywhere in town. In addition to the chateau, there is also an old fortress and a church. All three are in very good condition. On the first day, we saw the church and the fort. By the time we got inside the fortress and started touring, we only had about 2 hours to see the whole thing. Hardly enough time! The fort was really cool. We walked all the way up the tower and onto the roof where soldiers would lookout onto the countryside and defend the fort if necessary. This sight was amazing. We could see for miles of the most beautiful countryside. It took a moment of concentration to imagine what this sight might have looked like in the Middle Ages. We took so many pictures! The fort also had a torture room, underground tunnels, and a surprisingly beautiful garden. After we finished at the fort, we went to a bakery to pick up a snack and then we went to the banks of a smalll river that cuts through the town. We walked up and down the river for a while and then went back to our hotel to go to bed.

The next morning, we had a list of things to accomplish before returning to Paris so we started early. First, a quick breakfast then we checked out of the hotel and went to explore the town a little. We went to the top of the hill to see the inside of the chateau and to dig into the gift shop. In the chateau, we saw the room that Joan of Arc met with the king of France, Charles VII.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_arc
We also saw the Tower of Agnes Sorel. Agnes was the mistress of King Charles VII and the chateau de Loches was her country home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agn%C3%A8s_Sorel
To say that the chateau is picturesque would be a gross understatement. The chateau, fort, church, and town are all extremely beautiful. After visiting the chateau we stopped by the gift shop and I picked up the things that I think Mimi would like. We left Loches for Tours via bus around 3pm. I simply loved this town and everything in it. I want to return and I would love to move there one day although I don't know if my mother would let me move to France!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Loches
We walked around Tours a bit while waiting for our train to leave for Paris. It was nice to see another city besides Paris. We didn't spend enough time here.
The whole weekend was so wonderful. I don't even know how to express it in words! When I get back to DC, I will post pictures so you can see for yourselves! Thank you for reading. Check back again soon.