Wednesday, May 16, 2012
One of my favorite parts of this
trip has been today as we visited old friends here in the Loire Valley. Yes, the lovely Chateaux are like old friends
to me as we’ve visited them so often; sharing them again with friends who are
visiting for the first time as they gaze in awe at the palatial homes built by
the wealthy several centuries ago. A few
are built for defense but for the most part they were built for pleasure.
Today we stopped first in Blois to
snap a photo of the outside staircase on the Chateau that was copied by the
Biltmore Family on their palatial home in South Carolina. Now I know why we couldn’t find it by
driving by in 2009….it is actually in the courtyard. When we found it we had to get down on our
knees to snap a photo through the gates as we didn’t have the time to take the
tour. They had banner hung that
prevented you from a really good photo standing up…guess we were not the first
to take them through the gate!
Then we drove to the largest of
the Chateaux in the Loire Valley; Chambord with over four hundred rooms that
allow you to get lost easily. Another surprise
for us as we didn’t remember so many furnished rooms when we were there in
1999. Maybe we were in a hurry and
concentrated on the circular staircases and the “to die for” roof top views. Not so much views of the grounds as of the chimneys’
and other roof top buildings. We really
enjoyed this one even though the place was full to the rim! It’s a beautiful sunshine day with nary a
black cloud in the sky and the tour buses are rolling full of tourists! And I think they were all in the Loire Valley
today!
Our third stop was at Cheverny; a
small, intimate and fully furnished home that has been owned by the same family
over the years. There are personal
photos displayed along with personal items such as the wife’s wedding
dress. One definitely feels like they
are visiting someone’s home when they enter this elegant Chateau. After we toured the building we walked back
to the Orangerie where they have food for sale. This building was used to hide many of the art
works from the Louvre during WW II, including the Mona Lisa. We enjoyed a light lunch and then walk
through the gardens on our way to see the famous hound dogs. There must be over fifty of them; very large
dogs used for fox hunting.
By this time it was mid-afternoon
and we decided to visit Chenonceaux since the weather was so great today and
tomorrow was questionable…maybe rain? This
is my all time favorite Chateau but today is was brimming with student groups
and tour buses from many different parts of the world; a potpourri of
languages! They have the loveliest of
flower arrangements in the Valley combined with fully furnished rooms and a
fabulous art collection of very valuable paintings. This is the Chateau with the multi-storied
building that stretches across the River Cher and was built in the 16th
Century. During both the 2009 and 2010
visits the outside was undergoing restoration work with much scaffolding….it
was a joy to view it today with the work finally finished. You’ll enjoy the photos in the slideshow
taken from the garden.
It was nearly 4 pm as we walked
down the long drive under the arch of trees to our car. After a short drive back to Amboise; we
dropped Terry and Linda off at the Clos-Luce Musee so they could visit the
final home of Leonardo da Vinci and see the many models of his inventions that
are displayed in the home. Terry is a
maker of models and was ecstatic later at dinner about what he’d seen on the
final tour of his day!
Our dinner this evening was at
another restaurant recommended by Rick Steves:
L’Epicerie that is located across the street from the Amboise
Chateau. Without reservations we were
unable to sit inside but did manage to get a table outside. It was a bit chilly by the time we finished
our delicious meal but worth the experience.
As we walked towards our hotel a multi-colored hot air balloon sailed
over our heads in the sky….hopefully an omen for a good day tomorrow as we head
for Chinon…
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