France road trip with a puppy, Part 1: Tours

This post is about the first stop in our 2-week drive across France. With all our travel experience to more exotic and remote locations, this trip should be a piece of cake. But I am worried, as this is the first with our new dog, a 2.5 month old Golden Retriever puppy. Everything is suddenly so much more complicated. The reservations (hotels must accept dogs), the program (no museums and cool or fancy restaurants for us) and definitely the packing! We have gone through something similar when our daughter was a baby, except now, instead of a stroller we are lugging a crate and a dog carrier, instead of diapers it's packs of indoor potty pads, instead of baby food and bottles it's puppy food and bowls. With our daughter the trips went well. Let's see how we do with the puppy.

Date: late October / early November 2012
Days 1 and 2: Tours

After loading the car (full trunk!) with mostly puppy-stuff, we set out from our Paris home to Tours about 2.5 hours away. As our own car is too small for this trip, we rented at AVIS and, even though we paid for it, they don't have a GPS to give us. So I am navigating from paper printouts, like in the good old times.

We pass a whole load of various "chateau" signs on the way, which is not surprising, as Tours is situated in the Loire Valley known for it's numerous chateaux. Because of puppy we are not visiting any of them on this trip, but focusing on town's instead, where a lot can be seen by simply strolling around.

According to Eyewitness Travel, Tours "is the most appealing of the major Loire cities". We shall see.  Even though for a period the town was France's capital,  it was never exactly on my sightseeing radar, and we are only visiting because my husband has a work meeting here.

We are staying in the charming Clarion Hotel Chateau Belmont, on a hill above town. To my relief the hotel has pleasant gated grounds. That should make it easier for puppy. She has not completed all her vaccinations yet, and is not supposed to be exposed to excrement from other dogs or rats, both of which are impossible to avoid in Paris. The grounds here look so clean compared to our Paris street!

Clarion Hotel Chateau Belmont, Tours

Clarion Hotel Chateau Belmont, Tours

Clarion Hotel Chateau Belmont, Tours

The main hotel building is charming inside and out, though for some reason the two side extensions are completely modern looking, which is a bit bizarre. Also, there seem to be a lot of elderly strolling on the grounds, so I wonder if one of these buildings is actually a retirement home. Don't have much time to ponder this though as puppy falls asleep and we jump on the opportunity to have a nice quiet afternoon tea in the pretty hotel bar.

Bar of  Clarion Hotel Chateau Belmont, Tours

Bar of Clarion Hotel Chateau Belmont, Tours

Bar of  Clarion Hotel Chateau Belmont, Tours

My daughter and husband head for the indoor hotel pool, while puppy and I take a walk on the grounds. We have to stay on the paved paths though. I have read that walking a Golden Retriever puppy is like walking a vacuum cleaner, and it's definitely true for our little one. So we have to stay off any gravel paths to make sure puppy doesn't have gravel for dinner.

I tire her out then feed her well, to make sure she behaves during our dinner. Yes, we are brave! Encouraged by her good behavior in the afternoon (she slept quietly in her carrying case during our entire tea), we made reservations for dinner in the hotel restaurant. While normally they don't allow dogs, they made an exception as puppy is small and in a carrying case. It almost turns out to be a disaster, as she barks like crazy for about a minute as soon as we sit at the table. Very embarrassing and we are contemplating leaving. But then she quiets down and we are actually able to have a nice and relaxing dinner after all.

I am a bit stressed about the night, as puppy is still not very enthusiastic about sleeping in her crate, and I don't want her barking to bother the other hotel guests. But she must be tired, as she falls asleep without a sound. How nice!

In the morning puppy wakes me, like usual, at 5:30. It's dark and foggy outside, and this time of the day I find it a bit spooky. Now I wish I would have a fully grown large dog to protect me from whatever might be lurking behind the trees. The temperature dropped drastically since yesterday, it really feels like winter now.

We alternate at breakfast (no need to subject puppy to the carrying case again), then my husband goes to work and my daughter and I relax all morning. Whenever puppy is awake we go out on the grounds to play.

When my husband gets back in the afternoon we set out to see the town. I don't feel guilty at all that we haven't done any sightseeing yet.  The old town of Tours is small, and a couple of hours should be enough to see everything we wanted to see.

Old Town, Tours

Old Town, Tours

Old Town, Tours

Old Town, Tours

We park in an underground garage just off Place du Grand Marche, at the edge of old town. This square is not as charming as I expected, so we just pass through and walk straight to Place Plumereau, the most picturesque square in Tours. It is surrounded by pretty 15th century houses and, with it's cafes and restaurants, must be quite lively on a warmer day.

Place Plumereau, Tours

Sweets shop in the Old Town of Tours

We continue walking on Rue du Commerce toward the cathedral, and to my surprise it seems to be taking us out of the old town. It's a more modern, busy shopping street. We do pass by some sights though, like the ornate 15th century Hotel Gouin (under renovation unfortunately) and the bit falling-apart looking Eglise St. Julien.

Hotel Gouin under renovation, Tours

Eglise St. Julien, Tours

Rue du Commerce becomes Rue Colbert, which is semi-pedestrianized. What this means is that pedestrians walk on the street with a false sense of security, while cars zoom through just the same. That makes it almost impossible for me (with a small child and small dog) to enjoy the pretty buildings and the really cool Halloween decorations.

On rue Colbert, Tours

Halloween decorations on rue Colbert, Tours

On rue Colbert, Tours

The purpose of this walk was of course to get to the 16th century Cathedrale St. Gatien. Puppy gets some running-around time on the plaza in front, while we alternate visiting the inside. It's majestic, with beautiful stained glass windows.

St. Gatien Cathedral, Tours

Interior of St. Gatien Cathedral, Tours

Interior of St. Gatien Cathedral, Tours

Interior of St. Gatien Cathedral, Tours

We head to Musee des Beaux-Arts next door. Though we have no intention of visiting the museum itself, we are intrigued by the 200 years old Lebanese cedar in it's courtyard. It's an impressive sight, and the grounds and building (a former archbishop's palace) are pretty.

Musee des Beaux Arts, Tours

Grounds of  Musee des Beaux Arts, Tours

Two hundred year old Lebanese Cedar at Musee des Beaux Arts, Tours

We circle back toward the old town, passing by the neo-Byzantine Basilica of St Martin. Across the street is Tour Charlemagne, what is left of an earlier Romanesque church of St. Martin,  the 4th century bishop of Tours.

Tour Charlemagne, Tours

Basilique St. Martin, Tours

We are getting a bit cold and hungry at this point, so we are looking for a cafe where we could have some cake and hot drinks. But it seems that by now (6 pm) people moved on to alcohol rather than tea. We don't find any place we like, and head back to the hotel. On the way we stop for a minute to admire the view of Pont Wilson across La Loire.

Building in Tours

Pont Wilson, with Tours in the background

Dinner is room-service because we don't think puppy should spend more time in the carrying case today. Then we call it a day. Tomorrow we have a long day ahead of us, driving to La Rochelle, stopping in Poitiers along the way.