Next to the castle car park is the ruin of the oldest church in the town, Saint Lubin's, dating back to Carolingian times. From here numerous walks are possible through streets with old paving stones and ancient doorways. Just behind St Lubin's, the renaissance doorway of number 13 is particularly intriguing. Several churches and crumbling ramparts add to the distinctly gothic atmoshere. The quaint charm of the town museum more than holds its own with Disneyland and such like, while nearby caves provide a more commercial atmosphere for those who can't do without the 21st century.
Any visitor who plans to spend a little time in the area would be well advised to obtain a Michelin or Blue guide to the Châteaux de la Loire, far handier than lugging a computer and mobile internet connection around with you, whatever the e-society would have us believe.
And so the sun goes down, throwing golden rays on the grey castle walls, as seen from the bridge over the river Loir just below it. The return to Paris can be varied by heading North on the N10 towards Chartres and picking up the autoroute A11 there. As mentioned before, Stackhanovists or Japanese tourists on three day tours of Europe can stop off at the cathedral, while those who rejected with horror the suggestion of a sandwich lunch will by now have largely merited a stop off to load their stomachs in the many fine, if pricey, restaurants of this Godly city. For the rest Paris traffic jams are but an easy hour away.
Meanwhile, the ghost of Jean de Dunois, the Bastard of Orleans, watches from his airy tower, reminiscing about Joan, the Maiden, and fretting over his one remaining book, locked up in an English museum.... Who knows, perhaps one day a compassionate (or honest) parliament will return it to its rightful home.
However the same can be said for the Elgin Marbles, Cleopatra's needle, not to mention all the other knick-knacks filling museums throughout the world, so perhaps he had better not hold his ghostly breath.
For more details, here are a number of links (click here).
An old mill
The castle from bridge
Sundown