We had always promised ourselves that we would return to Tours and have a proper look around. This year provided just the right opportunity and we arrived in Only Camp Tours on a very HOT afternoon.
Only Camp Val de Loire is around a 20 minutes bike ride from Tours Centre Ville in the suburbs of Saint Avertin. The camp site is right on the river, not luxurious but pretty spacious with just about adequate loos and showers.
Spot Krystal, view from the river bank.
After a restful night which was very hot ( thank goodness for our fan!)
We set out on our bikes to find Tours. Directions appeared pretty easy, turn right under the first bridge and straight on. Easy to get lost then !! We started on the right route but soon got confused ( its doesn't take much !!) Should we really be entangled with French fishermen on a tiny track. I was following Den. Then there were the bridges!! Loads of them, we negotiated the island in the middle of the river and then found ourselves on the back streets of Tours. With a bit of help from a local and a few minor words from Google we eventually found our way to a main road. Bear in mind here, I am not the best on le velo. I did manage in heavy Tours traffic on the bike tracks quite well all things considered. The 20 minutes progressed to about an hour. Finally we found the Centre Ville.
I suppose the riot police, dogs, bikes and police cars should have been a clue. We were suddenly in the middle of a full French protest. ( something to do with climate change we think ) There was a lot of singing and jumping about in the fountains, with a few tractors parked around the place.
Police bikes and tractors on display.
Den took a few pictures then we snuck around the corner and found a quiet bar for a large drink. I really deserved my Aperol Spritz.
I actually took us 16 minutes to cycle home. We never did get to the old town, but now we know the way, there's always another day. We will have to come back to Tours.
Day 2 in Tours found us cycling along the river bank in the opposite direction. We passed the very nice looking large Municipal swimming pool, next to the camping. Certainly worth further exploration.
Loads of water sports going on in the river.
We had a lovely lunch in the local restaurant by the river. Tours has plenty more to give. Next time we will make it to the old town.
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