ORLÉANS

The View From Our Hotel (E. Leclerc in the distance)

Hotel des Provinces, Olivet

We headed out, bright and early, for Orléans, the first major stop on our journey to follow the footsteps of Jehanne D'Arc (Joan of Arc, Maid of Orléans, Wikipedia) (Joan of Arc, Maid of Orléans, OMD).  It was quite drizzly by the time we got to Blois.  We had a walkabout and a sandwich before moving on to Orléans.

Chateau de Blois

Maison de la Magie

We had difficulty finding our hotel.  It turns out that it is not located in Orléans but in a nearby suburb of Olivet.  Eventually, we found it after a walk through town to the the tourist office.  Our 2 Star hotel was more like "2 Cockroach".  We had a cramped room for three (literally 3 single beds with space between if you went in sideways).  We couldn't wait to get out of this Brit Hotel.

We had dinner in downtown Orléans and got a good sense of the place - 2 tram lines, a delightful Old Town, and of course, an impressive cathedral.

Various Joans of Arc:
1. Joan hiding from the English
2. Charles VII dressed as Joan of Arc to encourage his troops
3. Joan in her death throes (fake armour is no help)