Tours the city, Asian foods, and the poor dog

Yesterday's drive over to Saint-Avertin, a town that borders on the city of Tours on its southeast side, took us an hour. It was stressful because we were driving in the dark. Walt was behind the wheel. Neither of us is used to night-time driving any more. Headlights were almost blinding. Then it started raining. The fact is, however, that we found the veterinary clinic easily and arrived 15 minutes early. We got there before sunrise.

After my 30-minute meeting with the surgeon, we drove from Saint-Avertin across a bridge that spans the Loire river and into the area known as Tours-Nord ("north Tours"). The historic center of Tours is on the south bank of the Loire. The other half of the city is north of the river and is much more modern. I was surprised how urban it felt. I'd been there before, but I had never driven through residential neighborhoods in the area. It sure is a different world compared to the Saint-Aignan area. The city of Tours has an area of 34 km² and a population of nearly 140,000. The village we live in outside Saint-Aignan has an area of 32 km² and a population of fewer than twelve hundred. It's almost lonely out here.

Our destination in Tours-Nord was this little supermarket:

At Asia Market, we bought bottled sauces, bags of spices, noodles, fresh okra and bok choy, frozen okra, shrimp (3 lbs.), pot-stickers, spring rolls, and more. The last time we had shopped in an Asian grocery was probably two years ago. There are two such groceries in Blois, and two in Tours-Nord. Blois is closer to Saint-Aignan by about 20 minutes, but we are reluctant to go into cities these days because of Covid. Our local Saint-Aignan supermarkets have expanded their Asian food offerings over the past two years, but they still can't compare to an actual Asian grocery store.

As of now, we're scheduled to go pick up Tasha the Sheltie early this afternoon and bring her home. However, I have to call the veterinarian surgeon in a couple of hours to confirm that schedule. He spoke of complications when I talked to him yesterday afternoon — complications that might mean Tasha's convalescence will be longer than expected. Wish us luck.

S-Day for the dog

Today is surgery day for Tasha, our sheltie pup. We'll be driving her over to the town of Saint-Avertin, a suburb of Tours, where we have an 8:30 a.m. appointment with an orthopedic surgeon (un chirurgien orthopédiste). It's about an hour's drive from Saint-Aignan. I talked to an employee at the veterinary clinic two days ago and learned that Tasha will be operated on today (Weds. 1/19) and we'll be able to go pick her up and bring her home tomorrow (Thurs. 1/20). Then we'll start 6 to 12 weeks of convalescent care here at home, confining her to limit her movements, and carrying her up and down stairs and out into the yard on a leash for her to do daily business. More about that as time goes by.

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Here's a photo of the Château de Luynes, which I posted about yesterday.
It's on the other side of Tours, about eight miles (20 mins.) from the veterinary clinic.

Le Château de Luynes

I'm having a hard time leaving Amboise, but it's time to move on. I didn't realize I had so many photos of the town. Continuing about 40 minutes down the Loire from Amboise, passing through the city of Tours, you arrive at the town of Luynes (pop. 5,000). It's not as well known as upriver Touraine towns like Amboise and Vouvray, or towns downriver like Langeais and Bourgueil. It's actually only four miles from Villandry and its gardens, but there's no bridge over the Loire that links them directly, so it's a 20-minute drive.

I took these photos nearly 12 years ago, on a mostly sunny July day.

This is a particularly nice old house — probably 15th century — in the center of Luynes.

Just down the street from the house above is the town's 15th-century covered market hall.

Here's a view of the château from the center of town. Parts of the château date back to the 12th century.

Finally for today, a detail of the façade of the town's church, which is dedicated to sainte Geneviève

Amboise : maisons

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On the left, the hotel Le Manoir des Minimes and behind it the hotel Le Choiseul
On the right, an Amboise “tiny house”

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A troglodyte house (cave dwelling) on the left
On the right, a house that's been turned into a restaurant

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Views out over the town from the château grounds