9/14/17 Montlucon

Woke up this morning feeling restless so decided to leave Amboise a day early and break up the long drive to Aix-en-Provence.  We did a quick search on the internet - "Last Minute Hotel Deals" - and found a small hotel in Montlucon that looked nice.  It was just a three and-a-half hour drive down south from Amboise on the motorway.  Toll roads are a breeze now that we have a credit card with a chip!  In the past we would have to take a plastic bag full of change and pray that the line behind us at the toll booth wasn't too long.  We love the French, but they are extremely impatient drivers.

Montlucon was a bit larger city than we had imagined.  John was thinking cozy little country inn, but it turned out to be located in the center of a pretty big downtown. It was, however, quite charming and very comfortable.  I wish I had taken a picture of the back entrance where we were told to park.  You had to drive down a mostly pedestrian street, stop at a gate in a stone wall, and then drive through the VERY narrow gate into a cobble-stoned courtyard.  It took three tries just to get through the gate.

The hotel - LeGrenier a Sel - was really lovely.

It could very well be a cozy little inn in the countryside!

A little oasis in the middle of the busy city.

The door to our room:

We took a walk around the older part of the city, window-shopping and then stopped for a bite to eat.

For B - yet more cat figurines.  The French LOVE their cats!

We were two of four guests staying that night, and in the morning we had the dining room to ourselves for breakfast.

Our table:

For my sister Carol - beautiful vintage doll clothes:

After breakfast - back on the road to Aix!