Cement-town claustrophobia

I am starting to get bothered by the way this town has very few green spaces...I mean, we're in the middle of the French countryside, for goodness' sake! There's the river, but it's overshadowed by the town; there are parks, but not really on the way to anywhere I'd go on a regular basis. I was spoiled by Scarborough...walking along the coast to class, the moors within sight. Every view reminded me that I was in the middle of something bigger. In Blois, it feels too easy to be isolated from the rest of the world.

Gonna get out tomorrow, somehow, somewhere. We were going to go to a chateau, Chaumont-sur-Loire, but just checked their website and it's closed until April. Argh. There's talk of going to Tours for shopping...it's the infamous "soldes" here in France. They have big sales only twice a year, and one of those times is now. Although I'm tempted to find somewhere to bike or hike.

We watched "Rien du Tout" tonight, from the same director that did "L'Auberge espagnol." It was funny...about a guy who takes over a department store, improves employees' situations, etc. etc., but ........then he finds out that the company sold his store before he even took it over.