France, Monday, April 8, 2019

Bonjour, mes amis. As we struggled downstairs this morning with luggage in tow, Madame offered tea in the garden. We accepted and she then asked why we were leaving. She has a Google translator app on her phone in order to try and help with the language barrier. After much discussion, it was established that we were allowed to remain one more night. As we had prepaid and thought we would have a tough time receiving a refund , we chose to stay so we grumblingly hauled our bags back to our aerie and headed out for the day. Howie and Lee’s room was truly under the eaves, with a slanted ceiling surrounding the bath, and a curious dropped box in the floor that must be traversed to reach the bath, we were not sure we wanted to stay. Despite the zebra rug (not faux) on the floor, the loss of $$$ was a deciding factor. Turns out we are pretty American.

Today we headed some 70 kilometres down the road through Blois (say that three times) to begin our site seeing, arriving at Chateau du Chambord, the 440 room palace begun by Francois I, the first king of France and continued by his heirs. Louis XIV spent a lot of time here, and his reign was much in evidence. One amazing feature of the palace was the double helix central stone staircase, designed by Leonardo da Vinci. This massive central tower allowed two intertwined staircases, constructed so that those ascending could not view those descending.

The grounds from the upper floors were magnificent. It would take an army of Master Gardeners to maintain. I think in those days they were just indentured servants. Seeing the scale and obvious opulence, we quickly understood the French rebellion.

After this, Howie took the drivers position, with Deb still providing navigation while Lee and Mark offered encouragement from the rear. We proceeded to the town of Amboise. This town sported three Chateaux, and was once the second capital of France. We parked and ambled, opting not to enter any of the Chateaux but trying to score a lunch. We quickly learned that french restaurants only serve lunch from 12:00 to 2:00 and then shut down. It was 3:00! We finally found a small pasta place in which to have a glass of vin, some pasta and bread. Not exceptional, but serviceable. We wandered and shopped a bit, then headed to our last stop of the day, the village of Chenanceaux.

Here, we were to see yet another palace, this one the Château of Chenonceau. (Yes, the Château and the city do NOT share an X). This castle was constructed straddling the River Cher to provide defence against some marauding peasants, we believe. Again an amazing structure, more beautifully presented with a lower tone of ostentation, and truly beautiful rooms and galleries. We toured quickly, and at 6:00, as they announced the Castle was closing and all should be out by 6:30, we wrapped up our day and headed back to Orleans. Again Howie driving and Lee assuming the navigator’s position. Deb and Mark lounged and dozed in the rear.

We arrived, very weary and beginning to bicker, as we secured parking back at the Cathedral. We discovered that, not only was there the small lot we had used the night before, but an entire three story parking garage buried under the Cathedral. We still are trying to figure out how this was accomplished under a 500 year old Cathedral!

Back to our d’Hotes where our landlady secured a reservation at a nearby restaurant, La P’tit Gavrouche. We arrived and experienced a wonderful meal accompanied by a tasty Loire Valley rouge - from Cherveny. Duck loin, salmon tagliatelle, French onion soup, Andouille sausage, and a Cassoulet St Jacques with french baguette to sop up the juices. We dragged back to our rooms about 10:30, sated, traveled and exhausted. Tomorrow we head north and west.