Amboise

We jumped on a train to Amboise from Paris with a lot of excitement and a little bit of fear! We picked to stay at Amboise because Tours - the main town nearby - was all booked out. The train ride was a few hours long, and we got off with Sunday afternoon, nothing was open and luckily the train station attendant was able to give us a map of Amboise. We took off down the road and came across one of the quaintest towns in France. A river runs through the town in two forks, and a large castle looks down over the main centre. We followed some signs to the hotel, and what we thought would be 10 minutes soon turned to forty. We arrived at the hotel ready to collapse, it turns out the short distance to the hotel is somewhat complicated by windy roads and a constant uphill climb.


The hotel was a welcome relief - there were clean sheets and a really nice modern bathroom. We settled in and got a reservation at a local restaurant - both of us needing a good healthy feed after a few days of cheap eating in Paris. The reception made the last minute reservation at La Epicerie (apparently very busy and hard to get into on weekends....) We ordered a 20€ Menu each (like a pre set menu option, where you can choose one dish from three options for three courses). We had the best meal in a long long time. All of the food was amazing, and you could expect to pay at least $80 for the equivalent in Australia.

We left the restaurant feeling very satisfied, and refuelled for our journey onwards. We stopped to buy some sorbet on the walk home, and headed back to the hotel. We tried to go a more direct route than our original trip to the hotel - ending up in a narrow, dark, windy street under construction. The sun was setting fast and we quickened our pace a little. We passed lots of eerie buildings, it was very odd that this street in the middle of town could feel so deserted.