Bill's birthday

8.9.11
We woke after a reasonably restless night in the forest. No particular reason. I listened to night birds for many hours until finally managing a few hours sleep. Once again,light rain through the night but it didn't really effect us.
Bill's 60th birthday started quietly, with breakfast in the van before heading off to Orleans. Significant roadworks are being undertaken in order to put in a tram system,which made driving around here in a camper van a nightmare, so after a frustrating period we decided to head on down the Loire Valley.
As usual we avoided the motorways and main roads, so our route took us through forests and farmland until we reached Chambord Chateaux. This chateaux looks from the outside like something from a fairy tale and was originally the country residence of King Lous IV. Hunting of deer, elk and boar took place in the surrounding countryside. Evidence of their continued existence was seen, but no actual animals.
After a couple of hours here, we continued on to Blois, where we hoped to get a special 'plate du jour' to celebrate Bill's birthday. Eventually we found parking some distance outside the old township (it is not so easy to park a campervan) and took the long walk in. No suitable restaurants jumped out at us and by this time I was very tired from all the walking.
When we did finally settle on a restaurant, they told us they had finished lunch and even the nearby patisserie no longer had their special lunch deal, so we settled for a salmon quicke and then sat down for a crepe with a beer/coffee. Not really what we had planned and we were disappointed.
There was a fair presence of Police in this town, which unsettled us so we decided to head on a bit further. Unless something jumped out at us we thought we would try to find a supermarket and I would prepare a special dinner, so this is what we did - beautiful fresh prawns, 3 fish terrine and salad followed by cheese and olives.
We are at the start of the vineyard trail, so know what we will be doing tomorrow!