Blois
We stopped at Blois only because it seemed a suitable overnighting spot.
In practice it was a lovely little town and we stayed two nights on the aire which was beside the river and was free, although there were no facilities here.
This is another view of the aire. While it is free and in a fantastic location there are no services at all here so it is really only an overnight stop.
Blois was home to the original Houdini - Harry Houdini called himself Houdini as a mark of respect to the orginal French magician and there is a Magic Museum in Blois. Inside the museum is only mildly interesting, although the ticket includes a free magic show which was pretty good ( better if you actually like magic shows) but the highlight was the outside of the building. On the hour huge salamanders come out of the windows and growl. See below.
Each night there is a son and lumiere show at the chateau.
Blois also had a very impressive chateau as it was the former seat of the Dukes of Orleans. The salamander was the symbol used by Francois I and this is why we know these monsters coming out of the Magic Museum are salamanders and not dragons. The salamander symbol is to be found all those parts of the chateau built by Francois I.
