[Follow the links to photographs!]
May 28, Tuesday: In the morning I took the train to Tours. Luckily, the bus into town from the youth hostel was running, so I did not have to walk again! From Tours I had planned to visit Chenonceau, but there were no lockers big enough for my backpack in Tours station, and no left luggage, so I went to St. Pierre. Here I found a left luggage counter and dumped my bag off, but due to some sort of train delay, I could not get to Chenonceau until the afternoon. I sat in the station writing postcards all morning.
The Chateau de Chenonceau spans the Cher River -- rooms on either side of the river are connected by a long arched bridge -- and is famous not only for its former royal occupants, but for the fact that during World War II half of this chateau was in Vichy France and half in German-occupied France, thus virtually in two different countries. I had heard many things about this place, and seen photos, so I had been eager to get here.
The places was not as big as I had expected, though after 460-roomed Chambord, nothing would ever seem large again! But what the chateau lacked in size it makes up in elegance and style. On one side is a beautifully-manicured garden with carefully-shaped bushes. Inside, the chateau was furnished luxuriously, more like a palace than the castle of Chambord. King Henry II kept his mistress Diane de Poitiers here, though after his death, his wife (Catherine de Medici) forced her to leave, not surprisingly. Upstairs is a room decorated all in black. Apparently the grieving widow was so distraught by her husband's death she spent the rest of her days in this dark room. It left an impression on me, anyway.
From Chenonceau I went to Paris where I transferred to another train to take me to Epernay, in the province of Champagne, in the northeastern part of France. I found a room at another Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs. With my minimal command of French, I had believed this was like a youth hostel -- for young travellers -- but the name means young "workers" instead. Anyway, I got a huge 6-bed room to myself, so I couldn't complain!
Next: Me and Dom Perignon