Weather, Strikes And A Move To Blois

Theresa writes:
Day 11

So the combined effects of the strike and the floods have wrecked havoc on our travel plans.  We had purchased tickets from Sancerre to Blois via train but the SNCF website held no information about the effect of the strikes.  It merely said check back a couple of hours before your departure.  Not helpful when you are leaving at 7:30 am and travelling with three children...  Luckily our wonderful teacher Laura took us to the train station after our class on Friday (in her own time and in her own car) and they had all the information we needed - no trains between Paris and Nevers until Monday due to the strikes.

We were able to exchange our tickets for new ones departing Bourges (a town about 50 mins away). All good but it did involve a reasonably expensive taxi ride at 6am this morning.  On balance it was still cheaper than having to find a hotel for a night or two and we arrive in Blois by midday.

On arrival we popped into the information centre only to be told that there are road closures due to the flooding and this means there are no buses running to Chambord or Zooparc de Beauval (two of the intended highlights of our trip) and the local pool is closed due to the flooding as well.  We will probably be able to get to Chambord on Wed if the road is open.  The forecast looks ok so we are hopeful.  But the bus to the Zooparc only runs weekends so our only option if we want to see the giant pandas is to hire a car for the day and drive around the flooding...

This afternoon we explored the old town, visited the chateau and took a horse drawn carriage ride.