Blois, Chambord, and heading back to Paris

Before beginning the 3.5 hr drive north to Blois from Cognac we decided it would be a good idea to get some new water bottles. We had been refilling the same Deer Park/Poland Spring bottles since the start of our trip and they were starting to seem not-so-fresh.

We stopped at a big grocery store and hunted for a 6-pack of individual bottles based solely on the shape and sturdiness of the bottles. In the past we had found that some European bottled water companies have not yet switched to eco-friendly bottles so we were looking forward to obtaining some sturdier bottles.

We got back out to the car to continue our journey and C opened one of the new bottles to take a drink... and it sprayed all over him. Oops, we forgot to check the label for "gazeuse" and had mistakenly bought sparkling water. Oh well, we like sparkling water too.

After mopping up a bit C finally took a sip... and nearly spit it out - it was salty! We looked at the label more closely and saw that it had a bunch of words about recovery and rehydration. It was intended to be used like Gatorade after working out. The nutrition facts indicated that the water contained 1700 mg of salt per liter. Oops, well, we didn't get any fresh water but at least we got good bottles. We poured out the salty, sparkling water in the parking lot and continued on our way.

C sheepishly pouring out the salty, sparkling water

On the drive there was noticeably more traffic than there had been on our trip south. It was Aug 31 and lots of French and British families were driving home from their summer vacations. We saw lots of cars stuffed to the roof with pillows, beach toys, and other vacation accoutrements, often with luggage and tarps on the roof and bike racks on the roof.

Tiny trailer with roof box

The traffic thinned around lunchtime and we realized why as soon as we pulled into an "aire" to get some lunch. The French do not eat in their cars so every single car on the road had stopped for lunch and there was competition for parking spots at the rest area. There were lines out the door for both the Paul bakery for sandwiches and the sit-down restaurant, and several large families were picnicking in the parking lot.

Waiting in line for Paul sandwiches

That afternoon we drove straight to the Chateau de Chambord and visited the magnificent chateau. It turns out it was built by Francois 1 (a recurring theme on this trip) but he never really used it and most of the time it sat empty.

C at Chambord

Exterior staircase at Chambord

A checking out the queen's quarters

The double spiral staircase at Chambord

 After checking into our hotel we walked around the town of Blois and found a place for dinner. We stumbled upon a little square that had about 5 restaurants with outdoor tables and a band getting ready to play a set in the street. We settled in at a wine bar and had a drink while the band played.

Band in Blois

Drinks in Blois

As the band started their second set an ominous cloud started moving in from the West. Everyone in the square kept turning to look and point. When it finally started to pour everyone grabbed their drinks and headed for cover.

The interior of the wine bar had a nice atmosphere so we decided to wait out the rainstorm and stay for dinner. We finished (and so did the rain) in time to head to the Blois Chateau (also Francois the 1st's) for their nightly light show in the castle courtyard. Only the Wed night show is narrated in English and we were there on Thursday but we still managed to follow along as they told the history of the chateau's construction, the tale of Joan of Arc, and the story of the Duc de Guise's treachery and then murder at Blois in 1588.

The choreography of the lights splashed on the walls of the chateau was really cool.

The next morning we continued on our planned 1.5 hr drive back into Paris to return our rental car at the Sixt by Gare du Nord. There was heavy volume on the highway heading into Paris which slowed to a crawl as soon as we hit the Péripherique, the Paris beltway. It was disconcerting having motorcycles dart up the middle between the left and 2nd to left lanes, which is perfectly legal in France.

We successfully returned our car having needed 40 min of the 1 hr grace period on the return time and after only 1 illegal left turn and one taxi-only lane to get the final block to the return garage.

We made it back to Paris!