The Loire Valley

We left Paris in the afternoon by train and arrived Amboise around dinner time. We took a cab to our B&B (no car rental places in France being open on Sunday), checked in, rested a bit, and then walked into the city center for a lovely dinner. Back to the B&B for an early bedtime and late morning sleep-in--we were in much need of rest after our tour. This is a picture of our B&B. It was extremely nice even if the prorieters were a bit curmudgeony.

The next day we decided to take it easy, so David rode the train into Tours to pick up our car, drove back and we girls were just getting out of bed. We all ate breakfast, showered and got dressed for our day of chateau hopping. Our first stop was La Clos Luce whch is where Leonardo da Vinci lived in the last years of his life. I was so disappointed in this place. While the basement had interested replicas of da Vinci's "inventions," the rest of the house did little to demonstrate his imagination and interesting life. We all left wishing we hadn't wasted our time there.

From there we drove to Pontlvoy which is where the university has a semester long program. We walked through the grounds, went into the old church and were saddened by the lack of care for the place. It has been rumored that the person who owns the property has declared bankruptcy, so I will be interested to see what happens once all the bank-rolls have been settled. I was especially disappointed to see that the frescoes on the walls of the church had been painted over as part of the "restoration" of the building.

We drove to Montrichard which is a town where David and I and his students had many a lunch but couldn't find our way to our favorite pizzaria so headed to Chaumont instead. This is a fairy tale type castle with turrets, a courtyard, and when I toured it 4 years ago some of the most interesting furniture. The entire chateau is under repair, so we only got to view two rooms...at least it was free.

From here we drove into Blois, which is another town where we spent a lot of time 4 years ago. In the center city's town square there is a magic shop. At the top of the hour, the windows on the top two floors of the shop open up, gold dragons pop their heads out and make this most atrocious noise for about 5 minutes. Fortunately we got to see that again, because the rain that had been threatening all day finally came down in a gulley washer which left us running for cover in the nearest restaurant. We were starving anyway, so it was not a bad stop, but it was very disappointing to miss this chateau's tour. We were all completely soaked and just didn't have the heart for another tour in the pouring rain.

So, we headed back to our town, went grocery shopping, and had dinner in our room. It was so nice to be able to eat what we were hungry for rather than having to pick off of a menu foods that we werent' sure what they were.

The next day was our last day in France, so we made the most of it by seeing Chambord, Cheverny and Chenenceau. Three of the most famous chateaux and all lovely in their own right. After making the most of these tours, we headed back to our B&B for some dinner, rest and packing up for our return home.

I really enjoy the French country side. I find the people to be so charming and friendly, the air clean, the food wonderful and fresh. I love going to the chateaux and seeing the grandeur that the kings felt was appropriate for their position. Of all the chateaux that I've seen, Cheverny is the best preserved because the nobles who had this place were in good standing with their peasants, so when the revolt came, they didn't loot the place, burn it down and lop off the heads of the nobles. In fact, the person who lives there now (and it is inhabited in the top 2 floors), is a direct decendent of the first marquis who built the place.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. It was definitely one of those whirlwind tours where we saw way more than we thought possible. I enjoyed being on the tour because I didn't have to plan my itinerary most days, I didn't have to figure out where I was going to stay and I didn't have to get myself from place to place. I think the tour gave me a new respect for my abilities to walk a lot and be more physically active while traveling. I will definitely do another tour, just not a family tour. I also thoroughly enjoyed our few days without the tour. It was nice being a family again and not having the interference of 20 other people. I would, however, arrive earlier--at least two days before the tour starts--to give myself time to get over jet-lag. Everyone else did this and it was definitely a smart thing to do!