Tours, Loire Valley

I begin my tour of Tours in Place Plumerau, part of Vieux Tours, the local name for the old town. This is one of the city’s most vibrant squares, ringed by wooden medieval houses whose age has made them lean forward a little, as if trying to eavesdrop on the conversations outside the cafés and pubs.

Tours is packed with places to see and stories to tell. I head first to the Cathédrale Saint-Gatien, a Gothic masterpiece that fits perfectly among the surrounding half-timbered houses and cobblestoned square. Like many Gothic cathedrals, those who ordered its construction knew they were unlikely to see the finished building. Work started in 1170 and didn’t end until 1547, and over those centuries, tastes changed dramatically. This is reflected in the cathedral’s architecture, which expresses Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance styles. Inside, the vaulted ceiling and sumptuous decoration create a vision of heaven on Earth, and a feeling of awe and one’s own smallness.

Behind the cathedral is the site of Tours’ Roman city, today a modern residential neighbourhood. Then known as Caesarodunum, it was founded by either Augustus or Tiberius in the early first century AD. My first stop on my Roman tour is Jardin des Vikings, which, despite its name, doesn't feature any Viking remnants. Instead, it has the best-preserved section of the old Roman wall.

I take a short walk around the crumbling old wall, admiring the bright bands of red brick that run through it, and then begin my real mission: finding the amphitheatre. During the Roman period, Caesarodunum had a population of about 6,000, but its amphitheatre, capable of holding up to 12,000 spectators, rivalled the greatest in the Empire. It's still a mystery among archaeologists why this relatively small place had such an outsized arena, and as no inscriptions about it survive, it’s really anyone’s guess. My favourite explanation, however, is that it was an ancient publicity stunt by some enthusiastic local elites who wanted to promote their hometown as a tourist destination.

Finding the monument today is a bit tricky; in the succeeding centuries, almost all of the building’s stone has been repurposed. I head to Rue Général Meusnier. This lovely street, lined with handsome bourgeois houses, has a perfectly semicircular shape - and that’s because it was built on top of the lip of the ancient amphitheatre! Using the street as a starting point, archaeologists in the 1960s were able to map out its plan and deduce its huge size.

After attempting to trace the amphitheatre, I head back into Vieux Tours, and onto Rue Colbert. This is where Joan of Arc was brought after her meeting with Charles to be fitted with armour. Famously, she refused a sword, as she did not wish to shed the blood of fellow Christians. Instead, she asked for a banner, so she could hold it high amid the chaos of battle and give her followers strength. It was made right here by a Scottish signmaker who painted it with an image of Jesus Christ holding the world, angels, a fleur-de-lis, and ‘Jesus Maria’ emblazoned across it in gold.

I end my tour where I started, in the Place Plumerau. I find an outside table at one of the many pubs, sit back with a cool glass of local Vouvray chenin blanc, and watch the world go by, satisfied with another lovely day exploring the Valley.