A visit from herself - K.M.B.Sheedy ffcs-bls.

With our trip now over we settled back into our normal pattern of " home " life with shopping & washing to be done, I caught up with reconciling all our expenses while we were away & answered ( or more correctly deleted ) most of the 80 or so emails that had accumulated over that period. After so many kms the car also needed a good wash & vacuum out, by the end it looked as good as new again.

The week passed rather quickly as we were looking forward to Kaths impending visit next Tuesday. Would you believe it, the weather had completely changed during this week as we now enjoyed beautiful warm days bathed in sunshine & not a cloud in the sky.

It was Monday 10th October just after b/fast & we were relaxing just getting ready for Kath's arrival tomorrow at Tours when the phone rang- guess who, it was Kath, & she had already arrived at Orly & was about to find out when her train would be leaving for Tours & would ring us back. Ten minutes later we knew, it was 1.00pm so we were stung into action.

Tours ( 270000 ) is about 55kms from here & took us a little over an hour, with time to spare we discovered the gem of Tours, the old part of the city. During this time we stopped for a coffee in a lovely square lined with large sun umbrellas ( parasols ) dotted around the area but still allowing people to bask in the warmth of France's " Indian Summer ", from where we were sitting we could see the old 14th century buildings ( see pic above ) that faced into the square giving the area a unique blend of old & new.

Kath rang back to say that her train would actually be arriving into St-Pierre-des-Corps ( the station before Tours ) & only 3kms to the east, we found our way there & waited for her arrival.
The train arrived right on time & we waited with excitement to see Kath, but after seeing people get off & no Kath we were concerned, so we then went to the next platform to look. Sara decided to go downstairs to the lounge area & sure enough she was there, it was great to see someone from home after nearly 3mths away. Unfortunately Kath had committed the cardinal sin that we all make & that was to pack too much luggage ( but that did include 4 books for Sara to read plus a litre bottle of Ballantines ) so all was forgiven. On our way back Kath said that she had had a great time on her walking tour in the Lakes District in the U.K. & after that in Budapest, Munich & Prague. We stopped for a welcome cuppa ( for Kath or " Ms Bushell ) & a bite to eat before wending our way back to Mareuil.

Over the next couple of days we took her to Chateau Chenonceau, Chateau Cheverny ( see pic of K & H ), Chambord as well as a nice dinner ( see pic ) at Chez Constant in St-Aignan & a lovely lunch in the Auberge Chateau Montpoupon where the decor, ambience & the food were just so well done unfortunately being 4 courses it was far too much for all of us so we just sat around & chatted that night. We left by 10.00am for the trip back to Tours arriving a little after 11.00am in plenty of time, we waited until she left at 12.10pm & thanked her for visiting us. We reflected later in the day that by the time that we had arrived back in Mareuil she would have already been at Montparnasse with the TGV train ( they travel at up to 300km/hr ). Our next visitore would be Roger & Christiane on Monday afternoon. See you soon.