Hôtel Eco Blois

Angel at reception was so kind and compassionate about my buddy’s injury. She could barely walk, and we were both crying. Angel definitely deserves a pay rise. She helped us arrange a taxi back to Blois for our bicycles, then get the crash-damaged bike fixed at Phillipe cycles. Google translate came in handy. There are Angels out there, and one of them works here. We’d been cycle touring and camping for three weeks when my buddy had an accident in Blois on the way to a campsite in Beaugency. An ambulance took her to hospital for a terrible leg wound that needed cleaning and stitching. Our bikes and clothes were left at a good Samaritan’s apartment. We were at the hospital until 10pm, then a nurse booked us a taxi to ibis eco in Blois, but it was full. We were both still in our cycling gear, covered in dried blood, with no change of clothes. Francois tried hard to find us somewhere, so we went to the Tower, which was also now “fully booked,” even though apparently it wasn’t. After a third taxi we got here. The night shift guy was a bit aggressive, even though he knew we were coming and had been told our situation. It was 11pm, so we paid and hoped my buddy could rest her leg and aching body. After backpacking in Asia and Australia, I recognized what felt like my old enemy, bed bugs, as soon as I entered the room. I didn’t get bitten, though I saw one crawl across my shirt about an hour after we left, and quickly stamped on it. The room wasn’t the cleanest, but we were desperate. The toilets were clean, had seats and toilet paper, unlike most French campsites. There was a basin, and the water was hot. We didn’t use the shower because we were tired and it would have ruined the bandages on my buddy’s legs. Thankfully we had no bags or clothes with us that could be contaminated with bed bugs. We didn’t know if we’d booked breakfast, or even where we were. We explained things to the woman at reception and had breakfast, which was great. There was a toaster, something campsites usually don’t have, and the coffee from the machine was pretty good.