Friday, July 11, 2008

Old Orleans

Day 122
I had gone to sleep so early that I didn't need my alarm to wake me up. After a short walk to the train station I was headed to Orleans. Only they pronounce it like Orle-on and I was confused.
Orleans is a cute place. There seems to be hundreds of these in France. Cute towns that is, I think there is only one Orleans. It's claim to fame is that Joan of Arc came through here.
However, before I found Joan I found the Cathedral of St. Croix. It was lovely. After a brief exploration I found the tourist office and finally had a map. There wasn't much to do so I headed straight to the only other place in town, the Joan of Arc House.



On April 29, 1429 Joan of Arc brought her army to Orleans to help expel the English. The museum, was completely in French and I was rather confused. The only part in English was commentary to go with a model. The battle of Orleans was an attempt to drive the English out of the town. It had gone on all day and the troops were about to give up. Seventeen year old Joan (who had even been injured earlier in the day) rallied her troops and with them pressed on for one more attack. This time they won and the English were driven out.

When I had finished with the museum I headed to an internet cafe only to learn that I was having more credit card trouble trouble. It's just so irritating to have to deal with this while I am traveling. By the time I had waited on hold and had everything sorted out the rest of my day was shot. There wasn't anything left in Orleans and no time to take a train elsewhere. Instead I picked up some food from Carefour and simply headed back to Blois. It was another incredibly early night for me with no new friends to entertain me.

No comments: