In Bruges...

 

On Friday Denis was our guide for a lovely day trip to Bruges, only slightly spoiled by rain in the afternoon which waylaid our boat trip on the canals.  We were joined by other friends from Brussels (and LGP),Tony and Tina,who had entertained us at their home the night before! 

 

 

A walk among the stunning housing stock of Brussels.

2023 is 'Art Nouveau year in' Brussels and on our first day in the city we didn't have to venture far to get our first taste of what is one of our favourite architectural design styles, the photo above was taken from the steps of our generous hosts Anne and Denis' house!

Belgium was an early centre of Art Nouveau, thanks largely to the architecture of Victor Horta, who designed townhouses in the fledgling Art Nouveau style in Brussels in the late 19th century. 

We spent the day,morning with Denis and afternoon with Anne, seeking out some of the gems of a plethora of stunning town houses of varying architectural designs.

   

 

I got chatting to the owner of this fine house and he invited us in for a look. The entrance to the house was for a coach which originally would take the owners of the house along the passage way and drop them off at an elegant staircase to enter the house, quite stunning.

Bussing it!

Our wee adventure has us taking up a kind offer from friends to visit them in Brussels. After checking out the cost of doing the journey by train around 400 euros we decided to go for the bus option at a fraction of the cost. Pauline had,in the past, used the 'Flixbus' service from Tours to Paris and found it comfortable and inexpensive (8.99e). 

So yesterday morning we headed along the road from the train station in Tours to where you pick up the bus only to be informed that the bus we were taking was not a branded 'Flixbus' but another company's bus. What this meant was less leg room and no WIFI facilities. As it happened it proved comfortable enough and we arrived at the bus station (read bunker) in Bercy in Paris in good time to grab lunch at a nearby restaurant before catching our next bus to Brussels (18.99e) ,this time an actual 'Flixbus', so we had the leg room but unfortunately a non functioning WIFI and phone charger! Ah well you can't have everything, although we did have a mother with a very small child immediately behind us who was pretty distraught,sadly, for most of the journey. We consoled ourselves by thinking being on a train would not have been any different although a lot more expensive!

Not so grand...

We are off on a wee adventure which called for an overnight stay in Tours and for convenience we chose to stay at the Grand Hotel by the transport links.We stayed here once many years ago when we were house searching before deciding to move over here, Our visit during our recent Art Deco tour influenced our choice for this trip. Big mistake, our room was at the back of the hotel so away from the potential noise of the train and bus station but much has changed in the city since our last trip. We had people out on the street behind us revelling (?) until 2.30 am then we had the bin lorry and street cleaner at 5.30/6.00am and of course the tram starting its first run of the day. Sadly the hotel's double glazing is from a different time and proved inadequate.

The hotel was a bit of a disappointment after having had a lovely evening walking around the city and trying out a new restaurant, Bistro Rossini, which proved to be a good choice.

 

Monday's walk...

 

We did not join the group for yesterday's walk around Le Grand-Pressigny as we had a lunch invitation just outside the village. Just to keep our hand in (or should that be foot) we walked to our hosts from the village centre. 

Moments from last night's 'Fête de la soupe' in Le Grand-Pressigny.

 

Big shout-out to the Comité, Aline, band,dancers (and 'caller') soup and cake makers and servers for another successful event. Special mention for hard-working Jane in the background!

* 2nd image courtesy of Alison.

A week of walks...

We started our week of walks with our walking group on an excellent walk at Le Louroux (here). Then on Wednesday we headed over to the climb on the Le Grand-Pressigny side of the D750.

We added an extra kilometre onto the walk by being nosey and walking this road (and back) to the property at the end of it as a friend had said they had walked it in error and were surprised to find the grand house at the end o it! It happens to be the home of a former mayor of Barrou and her husband. 

Thursday had us crossing the Creuse for another climb (top pic) up into the woods behind La Petite Guerche. 

A view back at the chateau through a small clearing.

Not sure why this tree just didn't take the direct route to the sky!

Yesterday's walk was to Barrou and Lunch at the restaurant then a walk back (9km total) which included popping into friends in the village for a catch-up.