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Blois: Day 1

After a long day of traveling, it was only fitting to enjoy a day of relaxation. What better way to start than with a pastry-filled brunch? I looked up the closest boulangeries and patisseries, which led me to Artisan Boulanger. There, I feasted on an almond croissant (taste and texture reminded me of the one I had in Montreal, with the closest contender in Vancouver being French Made Baking), coupled with a few bites of their plain croissant and apple tart. It is hard to describe the joy of eating a well-made pastry - so deeply satisfying that it fueled me for the rest of the day until dinner.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the center of Blois around the castle, with the highlights being the grocery stores (I love seeing what locals eat and what ingredients they use in their cooking), cafés, and tourist information office. We tried both café experiences (a quick espresso at the bar, versus sitting down and sipping a café crème while sitting and watching street pedestrians) and really enjoyed the latter. I mentioned the TI office because we found a wonderfully helpful lady who explained everything about routes for cycling and where we could rent bikes, providing us with brochures as reference.

After picking up our last companion at the train station and snacking a bit (with beer), we headed across the Loire river to the south part of Blois for dinner at Le Bistrot du Cuisinier. It was amazing - we had a 3-course meal and the food was incredible. Rich flavors that filled our sights and our stomachs - starting with the house specialty: prawn soufflé. The soufflé was creamy and light, in a decadent sauce infused with shrimp flavor. I followed that up with what I thought would be a lighter main course - pan-seared cod. I was wrong - the buttery cod fillet, cooked to perfection, was laid in a thick bed of creamy starch, finished with a splash of dark sauce. I thought I could eat no more, but then dessert came - I ordered profiteroles and it was an explosion of sugar, with chocolate and vanilla ice cream sandwiched in cream puff shells, drowning in a sea of caramel and chocolate.

It was a slow stroll back to the apartment, hampered by bulging bellies. I'm not sure if I can keep eating like this. I might just die from insanely amazing food. Tomorrow, I'll try to work off some of this dinner by cycling to Chambord.

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