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.

France, Sunday, April 7, 2019

Well, to begin. Your daring doubles, Howie and Lee, and Deb and Mark arrive at Eppley Airfield due to the kindness and driving skills of their respective children. We applaud their efforts at timeliness and remind them of their respective duties in our absence - check the homes, water the pets and/or plants, and we in turn promise to notify them of any untoward changes in plan.

We board United Airlines for our adventure, traveling from Omaha via Chicago to our eventual destination of Paris. Flights were mostly uneventful, on time, and the meals were acceptable. A miracle that we arrive and depart notorious O’Hare from the same terminal - no schlepping our carry-ons in a rush from place to place. The only significant event on the flight was a single call for a medical practitioner while over the water (Howie answered the call along with two others; no real help needed, but he did wish that next time it would be a small newborn upon whom to practice his skills, rather than some middle aged woman with an upset stomach.) All survived.

We arrived safe and sound on Sunday morning at the scheduled 10:00 AM and received all luggage in a timely manner. French authorities chose not to hold our existing administration against us and  allowed us to enter their fine country. We secured the largest vehicle available, a Mercedes 350 GLC with annoying motion sensors and cameras totally surrounding the vehicle, and proceeded to find our way out of the Charles de Gaulle complex.

Mark took the first driving shift, and Deb assumed the navigator’s seat. We headed towards our eventual goal of Orleans, some 70 kilometres south and east of Paris. Around 2:00, we arrived in the town of Fontainebleau, and during a course correction we spotted a nice looking restaurant, Le Patton and decided to stop for lunch. Pulling into the enclosed parking yard, we learned the downside to having secured the Hummer-like size GLC. Luckily we purchased full damage insurance (no first time travellers we) so should not have to worry regarding a paint scrape from an abbuting pylon. We secured the vehicle next to some of its miniature brethren and partook of a lovely French meal.

Refreshed, we headed on to Orleans, arriving eventually about 5:30 and navigating some very narrow streets to our abode for two nights, the Chambers d’Hotes, a charming 1500 era city home housing 2 lovely bedrooms, en suite, at the top of its steep staircase on the third floor. As there was no room to park on the street, the driver idled in a nearby lane while the negotiating party discussed accommodations. Secured, our next stop is to find parking as there was none at available on site.

Four cobblestoned blocks away, we discovered parking on the grounds of the Cathedral Sainte-Croix and then dragged most of our luggage bouncing back to the d’Hotes. The hardest part was ascending to the third floor (narrow and steep.) We may have over-packed!

Next on order was an evening meal. Since it was only 6:00 PM, and the French customarily don’t eat until 7:30 - 8:00, we searched up and down for a place that was not a pizzeria or taco stand for a meal. We were finally directed by a charming young lady who spoke some English, towards a bar down a side street that might have some chacuturie available with our evening vin. A serendipitous find.

Arriving at the aptly named “Antidotes,” the proprietor, Xavier, allowed us to occupy a small high-stooled bistro near the bar of the small establishment, served us a wonderful Ventu cote de Rhone and produced the most amazing sausage slices. He soon decided to practice his rudimentary English on our less than passable French. A wonderful evening, with a production of cheeses, baguettes, butter and conversation about where to go the next day.

We strolled back to our temporary home, to be then served with a glass of Loire valley Vouvray by our hostess, and a history and tour of the house. The only glitch was that the 85 year old woman believed we were only staying one night rather than two. Long discussion ensued and we agreed to take our leave the next day. Off we climbed to bed exhausted but sure we were beginning a wonderful trip.