Tours, City Hall

Tours, an old Roman city, is an excellent location from which to explore this portion of France. To spend a few days in the Loire Valley, we suggest a hotel in Tours as the headquarters for day trips to the nearby Châteaux. Tours has a stately City Hall, a fine cathedral, old houses, museums, and the landscapes of the Loire Valley. Vieux Tours (Old Tours), was the subject of restoration during the 1970s, and is well worth a visit today. A few portions of the Basilica of St. Martin (1000s) are still standing, although they tore down part of the nave in 1802 to build a street.

When walking down city streets in Tours, and many other towns and cities in France, we often find a continuous high wall built right to the edge of the sidewalk. Usually the wall is part of a building, but sometimes it’s simply a garden wall. We are always alert for an open gate. We may see just a parking area, but perhaps a lovely garden courtyard, sometimes with an outdoor cafe, will provide that perfect “photo opportunity.”