The journey home begins

It was a day of train journeys – from the local station of Port Boulet to Tours, a short 5 minute journey from Tours to St Pierre des Corps, the TGV to Paris, the free Charles de Gaulle airport metro to get to our hotel, and later in the afternoon, a train journey into the centre of Paris and back again.  Phew!    

As if sensing the impending end of our holiday, my stomach decided to mount a protest and I had a particularly restless night as a result.  It made sure I was awake nice and early anyhow.  And early it needed to be because our train was at 8:18am.  Mark and Debbie who have been absolutely wonderful hosts for the duration of our stay, again went out of their way to accommodate us this morning.  Breakfast was brought to our room early and Mark delivered us to the train station, even standing on the platform with us until we were sure the train was on its way.  We couldn’t thank him enough for the last three days, which have been absolutely superb.

The next few hours passed in a blur of trains, railway platforms, and countryside rushing past the train windows.

The Memorial at Langeais station to commemorate the 40 Allied POWs who were being transported by train through Langeais by their Nazi captors when it came under Allied fire.  The POWs who were not killed or injured were force marched to St Pierre des Corps and misery in Germany

Soon the familiar graffiti covered concrete and rail wagons on the outskirts of Paris came into view.  Ah Paris – it has been five years since our last visit, good to see you again!  After a lengthy wait to get into our hotel room and a much needed rest, we headed into the city centre.

Concorde frozen in time at Charles de Gaulle airport

It was a warm sunny Sunday afternoon and we were treated to glorious architecture, a Louvre forecourt buzzing with activity, a fleeting glimpse of the Eiffel Tower and the twinkling waters of the Seine. 

The Louvre

A glimpse of the Eiffel Tower 

The Louvre forecourt

The 'Love Lock' bridge over the Seine

View along the Seine

Sadly my stomach robbed me of much enjoyment and after a light meal in a riverside café with a properly rude waiter, we decided to head back to the hotel.  Although only a short trip into the city, at least it gave us bragging rights:

‘So what did you do over the weekend?’ 

‘Well I just happened to be in Paris dahling….’

Our holiday ended the same way it began – staying at an airport hotel.  However we did treat  ourselves to some luxury on our last night in Europe with a comfortable room at the Hilton Charles de Gaulle.  And very nice it was too.

Some luxury at Hilton Charles de Gaulle

Loire Valley Tour (Day 3) - West of Tours

The morning favoured us again with glorious sunshine and a blue sky blemished only by a criss cross of aircraft vapour trails.  Mark took us to Villandry first so we could beat any crowds.  We spent the first part of our visit walking around the chateau.  Although built in the 16^th century, the interior reflects the style and tastes of the Carvallo family who bought and refurbished the chateau in 1906.  The chateau is still owned by the family and has the personal touches – portraits and photographs – of a home.

Chateau de Villandry

The true magnificence of Villandry however, and the main draw for me, lies in its gardens and these did not disappoint.  While the sky had rapidly clouded over, the brilliant geometry, sharp design and flawless planting produced a feast of colour and textures across the gardens.  It soothed the soul to see such beautiful symmetry and order achieved with nothing more than ornamentals, herbs, vegetables and fruits. Indulge me - there are a few photos here of the gardens but I couldn't help myself.  It was just so beautiful.  I could spend days of quiet contemplation here and still find new wonders.

Gardens of Villandry (in the foreground the ornamental garden portraying love in its four guises (clockwise from top left: 'Tender Love', 'Passionate Love', 'Fickle Love' and 'Tragic Love'), and vegetable garden behind)

The Vegetable Garden

Water gently cascading down from the Water Garden

Colours of Villandry

After stopping in Azay-le-Rideau for a sandwich by the river, Mark took us to the Troglodyte village in the Goupillieres Valley where we benefited again from a Mark-tour around some of the troglodyte dwellings.  

Azay-le-Rideau

A giant contrast from the clean white stone of Villandry castle, here we got to look inside some of the dark, damp, cold little 'rooms' cut into the rock where most peasant families spent their lives from the Middle Ages up to the last century.  Not only did they have to cut the rock for their masters but farm for their own survival.  All this in poor living conditions while fending off cold, disease, rats and violent raids by bandits.  It was very sobering.

“Many families have lived within these walls.  They are walls of poverty and walls of conviviality, where simplicity and spontaneity accompanied days of happiness and times of sorrow.  These walls have seen intense fatigue and backbreaking labour.  They are brimming with memories that can benefit each and every one of us.  Their memory will not be lost, since it has been handed down from person to person, and each of you will carry a little piece of it home to share with others.”

(Louis-Marie Chardon – site owner who discovered the troglodytic dwellings and has preserved and opened the site to the public)

Troglodyte dwellings

Mark then drove us through picturesque countryside for a quick view of the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ chateau at Rigny-Usse - so called because it inspired the author of the tale, Charles Perrault (not Walt Disney).

Chateau d'Usse

Our final stop was at the Royal Fortress of Chinon.  A medieval fortress, it is famous for its links with the Plantagenet kings (Henry II and Richard the Lionheart) as well as Joan of Arc who journeyed to the castle to meet Charles VII in 1429.  The castle also happened to be hosting an exhibition of dragons which added some whimsy to the visit.  And so it was that we got to see Smaug, Tolkien’s dragon atop the clock tower – famous in its own right for having chimed the hour since the 14^th century – the Jabberwocky and Harry Potter’s dragon. 

Fortress of Chinon - and that's Smaug perched on top of the clock tower

View from the top of the clocktower - looking down at the Vienne River and Chinon

We followed in the footsteps of Joan as we walked the steep cobbled path separating the fortress from the village of Chinon and indulged in a coffee by the little square. 

Chinon

It was our last stop before heading back to the B+B and our final outing to the local trattoria in St Nicolas de Bourgueil for dinner.  It was more simple fare but in fairness, nothing was really going to top yesterday’s meal at La Rose de Pindare – so the moral is: if you’re in the area and need a place to eat, this has got to be it! 

Loire Valley Tour (Day 2) - West of Tours

This morning a place that prides itself as being among the prettiest villages in France – Montsoreau.  A popular place for Parisian holiday homes, it’s also the site of another magnificent chateau with views over the confluence of the Loire and Vienne rivers, and situated at the meeting point of three provinces (Anjou, Touraine and Poitou).  

On our way to Montsoreau 

Chateau de Montsoreau

Mark recommended the chateau as somewhere a little bit different and not your standard castle interior with tapestries and furniture.  Instead we found a very innovative use of audio-visual displays, music, dioramas and exhibits giving a unique snapshot of life in the region over time.  This ranged from the castle’s history and life and trade along the river, to the fiction of Alexandre Dumas and The Lady of Montsoreau.

The reward for climbing the stairs to the towers were stunning views of the river(s) and surrounding landscape.  These included three white steam plumes on the horizon (slightly visible in the photo below) from the region’s nuclear power station.  Bit of an anomaly in a World Heritage area perhaps but apparently close to being decommissioned for a bigger/better model.  The views over the village also highlighted some troglodyte houses cut into the rock.  The soft light coloured tufo limestone that the area is renowned for has been quarried for centuries to build the area’s chateaux and grand buildings.  In contrast the remaining pockmarked and hollowed out hillsides often served as dwellings for the poor serfs who did all the hard labour.

Meeting point of the Loire and Vienne rivers

Village of Montsoreau including some troglodyte houses in the hillside

Various uses for the subterranean network have evolved over time.  The cool interior temperatures (12-13 degrees) and constant humidity have made the caves perfect for mushroom growing and (as we soon observed for ourselves) wine storage.

Next stop was Veuve Amiot and a guided tour of the underground tunnels by our own maestro, Mark.  We were given a tutorial on the production of sparkling wine from first fermentation to bottling, packaging and shipping.  We were shown a little of the cool/dark underground network of tunnels that are now used to store bottles for ageing.  Back into the light and Ross got to sample some more fine sparkling wines.

In nearby Saumur we grabbed some lunch before a quick photo op near the chateau.

Chateau de Saumur

Me and the maestro

I really must say here that Mark’s knowledge of the local area, its geography, wines, history and businesses (restaurateurs, winery and chateau staff among others) is absolutely astounding.  He really is a maestro.  We were taken on another Mark-tour around the outside of Chateau de Breze, which has the distinction of having the deepest dry moat of any castle in France.  And deep it is – plunging to 18m, it has reputedly never been breached.  The moat even boasted its own inbuilt bakery/cold room to help the castle occupants withstand lengthy sieges.

Chateau de Breze

Looking down at the dry moat

Our last stop was Fontevraud Abbey – really an extensive monastic complex comprising a number of separate buildings.  Its fame during medieval times no doubt boosted when it became the resting place of two English Kings - King Henry II and his son Richard the Lionheart, their equally infamous wife/mother, Eleanor of Aquitane and her daughter-in-law, Isabelle of Angouleme.

Reclining figures of Plantagenet royalty - Fontevraud Abbey

Fontevraud Abbey

Fontevraud has achieved further notoriety since Napoleonic times following its conversion to a state penitentiary and its resident miseries of hunger, maltreatment, even torture.  The site served as a prison until the 1960s with the last prisoners only leaving as recently as 1985.  Needless to say extensive renovations have been conducted and still continue to  this day to return the abbey to its former glory.

Fontevraud Abbey - restored

To close another fabulous day, Mark organised a table for us at La Rose de Pindare, another local restaurant in St Nicolas de Bourgueil and the Mark-Debbie tag team kindly delivered us there and back.  The set menu was absolutely exquisite.  We enjoyed the fine evening by sitting outside on the restaurant terrace indulging in pan fried salmon with courgette mousse and red wine sauce, and beautifully presented fresh strawberries for dessert.  Without a doubt, it was the finest meal we have enjoyed on our entire trip and a fitting almost-end to our holiday.

The strawberry dessert