Day 39, 29 6 2013, Montargis to Fontainebleau
We took off this morning in steady drizzle, into the pretty town centre of Montargis. There we found a nice Ibis hotel in the town centre and a range of possible restaurants in the town square opposite. However, last night we chose the commercial area outside of the old town instead.
At the time it had started to drizzle again, and by the time we had walked to Buffalo Grill, it had settled into a steady, cold soaking rain that lasted until we finished dinner.
I love settling into an al-fresco restaurant in one of these old cities in the twilight of a warm summer evening, with the light, buskers, umbrellas and general atmosphere, and watching life go by. The food quality is not so important as the rest. But it was not going to happen last night. So, we could have booked into a more expensive business style hotel in this town centre, or a French two-star of no great attraction and spent more money, and then gone out to an indoor restaurant that did not offer the quality of Buffalo Grill. This explains what we have missed out on in this unusual European non-summer.
The Kyriad where we styed last night offered exceptional value with a full buffet breakfast included for the relatively modest cost of 77E.
The ride out of Montargis was fairly ordinary, occasional drizzle, and nondescript farm land.
We took a convoluted route after the city of Nemours to avoid the busy road into Fontaineblue, ad rode through some extraordinary villages and pretty forest country before arriving more or less in downtown Fontaineblue.
These villages contained a variety of mansions and estates with home adorned with turrets and conical roofs of a peculiar French style and a lot of other adornment. We don’t know why they exist, but presume that they are associated with the court at Fontaineblue.
We spent this afternoon roaming around the chateau, although this term hardly does justice to the scale of Fontaineblue, and the associated township. A relaxed and interesting afternoon in improving weather.
55 easy Km for the day.
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