We’re in the final couple of days in Orléans and packing up to go to Angers (pronounced Ahn-jzay) on Saturday. We’re saying goodbye to our favorite bakeries and trying to figure out how to get all of the belongings we’ve distributed around the apartment back into our bags. We’ve put most of our stuff in storage for the summer, but we have two big suitcases and a bike to wrangle onto the train, with a transfer in the middle of the journey. What adventure!

We were in Limoges the past couple of days where it hit 95 degrees yesterday and the air conditioning on the train was broken so it was about 90 degrees in the train for 2.5 hours. At least our hotel in Limoges had air for which we were grateful, though we spent most of the time out exploring. Limoges is famous for its porcelain.

The image above was taken in part of the Limoges old town with many of the original famous French timber-framed homes built about 1480-1520. No idea why there were balloons for three blocks, but they were very festive to look at while we walked through. There was another street with blue and white lights hanging across the roadway in another part of old town. We didn’t venture out to see them lit up since it didn’t get dark until very late and we were done after a long day of walking and heat.

We ventured into another beautiful old church with this amazingly gorgeous pipe organ surrounded by stained glass (above). We also explored Les Halles Centrals Limoges, which is an indoor food market selling everything you can imagine (and some things you can’t). We bought a local dessert treat called “Meilleures Recettes de Biscuits et Gateaux de Noel,” a chestnut paste-based cake with a thin chocolate top that was delicious. See a photo of one below.

Next stop, Angers!