Saturday was a day of dropping off guests and driving to Paris to pick up a special guest. We stopped at Orleans for a gastronomic lunch on the banks of the Loire river at La Lievre Gourmand - owned by an Australian who is an excellent chef (really excellent!). The beautiful cathedral is easy to see from miles away so we felt we should explore the place. After our lunch we had an energetic stroll around the cathedral and the old part of Orleans. Joan of Arc is a historic heroine of this town which she (and her troops) reclaimed from the English for the French King-in-waiting. After being in Rouen a few weeks ago and seeing the cathedral and the square where she was burned to death, it felt like going the full cycle of history. Rouen cathedral was painted by Claude Monet in many different hues and also touched our imagination. Rouen and Monet's garden are a part of the Normandy tour. If you are interested to join us in 2012, follow this link:
Normandy tour
