The Loire Valley

Monday 25^th April

Slowly making our way through the beautiful country side to the Loire Valley.  The country side in France is much different from what we have seen in the UK and Ireland.  It’s fun trying to interpret the road signs, we just make it up as we go and hope for the best, but are cautious.   We drive through so many lovely little villages, they are so quaint.  We needed petrol and had some difficulty obtaining it as the 24/24 stations that are automated refused all our cards.  We weren’t in dire straits but were keen to get onto an AutoRoute as we felt sure that we would come across a manned station there, and we did. 

All fuelled up and feeling a little relieved we mosy  on to the first of the chateau’ s on the list,   Chateau de Chenonceau.  The Loire Valley is often referred to as the Garden of France as it is an enchanted land of vineyards, flowers and rolling green hills dotted with hundreds of chateaux.   We think that the charm is its gentle pace life, especially after being in Paris.  The Chateau of Chenonceau, also called the Ladies Castle, has a famous viewing gallery, built by one of France's great Queens, from which to admire an impressive view of the Cher River.  It was completed around 1515-1522. Built on stone pilings in the river Cher, the chateau had many celebrated occupants including Diane de Poitiers, Gabrielle d'Estree, and Catherine de Medici. The elegant home is open to the public and is completely furnished right down to the chapel and kitchens. The sense of history here is quite intense. The turreted tower at front is all that survives of the original 1435 structure. The gardens and terraces are magnificent, there is a very small and easy maze (if you can’t loose me it’s easy), a small drawbridge, woodland paths, and a farm. There is also a small wax museum in the former carriage houses but we didn’t go in to it.  We ambled around the gardens savouring the magnificent monument and the wonderful day.

Chateau Chenonceau

Once in our hotel we take a walk around Amboise.  Amboise is a prim little riverside town trading on long-gone splendours, notably it’s impressive but disappointingly empty Chateau and Leonardo da Vinci's peaceful residence of Clos-Luce, with its exhibition of the notable man's inventions. 

Lee by the River in Amboise

Amboise is very pedestrianised, there were plenty of small shops to look around many street cafes, bars and bistros. We stopped at one of the bistros for dinner where we struck up a great conversation with some locals, who told us that Mick Jagger had a home here in Amboise.  They were a lovely couple with their little daughter, we have become quiet creative with getting through the language barrier, its such fun.  One of our favourite things to do when we get to a little town is to look at the price of real estate, surprisingly it is all what we consider to be fairly reasonable.  Obviously when we were in London and Paris the prices were grossly escalated, but in the towns outside of Paris, London they have all been very affordable.  Ireland of course was the most reasonable to date.  The other thing that I am particularly keen on doing is to visit the butcher shop to have a look at the selection of meats available.  I love looking at the meat and other foods.  Believe it or not I am not missing cooking at all, which surprises me slightly.

A typical french home in Amboise - they are lovely