A new adventure
began today. We checked out of our hotel
to be met by our host, Mark from Loire Valley Breaks. Usually a small-group tour, it
turns out we are the only ones to have signed on this week to what is the first
tour of the season and as such we basically have a guided tour to ourselves for
the next three days. It is a real privilege!
We bid the city
farewell as our Citroen wound its way out of Tours and headed east to the
grandest of the Loire Valley’s chateaux, Chenonceau. The big tour buses from Paris hadn’t yet
arrived so we were blessed with smaller crowds than usual, just as well as the
chateau and gardens were beautiful and it was a pleasure to have the time and
space to enjoy them. Once he’d helped us
secure our tickets and advised us on the best route around the grounds, Mark
left us to explore on our own.
Chenonceau is
uniquely beautiful as it was constructed over the River Cher in the 16th
Century. Gifted to his ‘favourite lady’,
Diane de Poitiers in 1547 by King Henri II, she enhanced the castle by building
a bridge over the river and adding stunning formal gardens. The King’s wife (and later widow), Catherine
de Medici ‘removed’ Diane (tempting her away with a castle swap) and added her
own touches with additional architectural works and gardens.
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| Chateau Chenonceau |
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| View of Diane de Poitiers' Garden |
The interior is
simple but refined and decorated in the Renaissance style with tapestries,
decorative tiles, coffered ceilings and fireplaces.
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| Gallery |
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| Ross is horrified to discover the evil aubergine in the castle kitchens |
Chenonceau is
as much about its setting as anything else for which there simply aren’t enough
superlatives to describe it.
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| Chateau Chenonceau from the garden |
The castle has
had a rich history up to more recent times with its use as a hospital during
the First World War and its pivotal location during the Second World War. As the River Cher corresponded to the line of
demarcation between occupied and free (Vichy) France, it was an important point
for activities by the French Resistance.
Hard as it may be to believe, the Germans kept an artillery unit trained
on the castle during the war ready to destroy it if necessary.
Our next stop
was the picturesque village of Amboise where Mark joined us for lunch at a
local bistro and talked strategy in terms of places we’d like to see over the
next few days.
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| Amboise |
After a quick
drive along the riverbank to view the local castle, we were escorted to our
next stop, the ‘chateau’ of Clos Luce.
Not really a castle but a grand manor house, this place came as a
totally unexpected and pleasant surprise.
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| Chateau Clos Luce |
Not far from
the Chateau Amboise, Clos Luce was a royal residence which King Francois I made
available to Leonardo da Vinci in 1516.
The French King held da Vinci in such high regard that he not only made available
the house and a princely allowance but also financed much of da Vinci’s work,
asking only the pleasure of his company in return. Da Vinci lived here for the last three years
of his life and took his last breath in the bedroom of the house at the age of
67 in 1519.
The house and
gardens preserve da Vinci’s brilliance with recreations of many of his drawings
and models of his machines. The man
truly was a genius with ideas spanning engineering, art, anatomy, architecture
and botany.
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| The gardens of Clos Luce |
Once out of
Amboise, there was a short stop for some wine tasting where Ross got to
sample a number of sparkling/still Chenin Blanc wines. The most incredible revelation perhaps was
the quality of the wines for absurdly low prices – only 5 euros a bottle in
many cases for wines that had already been aged for a few years.
It was then a
pleasant drive along the River Loire through a number of villages and past vines and
fields of sunflowers – some still with their bright yellow halos but mostly with heavy drooping brown heads. Mark entertained us with local tales and
history all along the way. Shortly before 6pm we
arrived at our lodgings for the next 3 nights – the B+B at St Nicolas de
Bourgueil which represents another labour of love on the part of Mark and his
wife Debbie. We were shown to our room,
part of a beautifully restored farm building from the early 19th
century. The complex comprises four B+B
rooms, a barn and the house Mark and his family live in.
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| The B+B at St Nicolas de Bourgueil |
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| Idyllic outlook over the vines in the afternoon sun |
Dinner in the
evening was a table at the local village restaurant for a three course meal
which Mark had recommended, organised the table for, and chauffeured us to. And
afterwards Debbie interrupted her own meal with family and friends to collect
us and drive us back for the night. We
really are being exceptionally well looked after.
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| Is this heaven? A new shirt, a French restaurant and a glass of wine |
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