Chenonceaux
When we came down for breakfast, we were pleasantly surprised by the lavish spread: chocolate croissants, yogurt, and bread accompanied by different jellies and jams, honey, and cheese. While we ate, our hostess went into her garden and picked fresh strawberries for us! Then, she also brought out freshly made French toast. Other than juice, we also got a generous pot of tea and very rich hot chocolate. We completely stuffed ourselves on the delicious food!
Our first stop of the day was the Chateau de Chenonceau. We thought we got there early at 9:30am, but there was already a line at the ticket booth. We elected to get a video iPod tour. In some of the rooms, the original flooring can still be seen at the edges where wall meets floor. Generally, beautiful gardens and river views - it's supposed to be one of the most picturesque chateaus. The most intriguing was the last room on the tour. It was a room of mourning, so quite somber compared to the rest of the chateau.
After a quick lunch of sandwiches, we drove off to the city of Amboise. On the drive there, we stopped by the only gas station on the road. We asked around, and it turns out that THIS was the gas station we were to drop off our rental car tomorrow. Good thing we found it..and by accident too! So the guy there told us he would help us arrange a taxi to the train station when we returned our car tomorrow.
In Amboise, DH's lucky navigation found the tourism office (and parking!) very quickly. We visited the Chateau du Clos Lucé where there was an exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's machines, cool replicas that IBM created from his notes. There's also an outdoor area where you can see life-size versions of these machines and try them out.
Last castle of the day was Chateau d'Amboise. The chapel were da Vinci is buried is located here. Throughout the castle, you can see Gothic vs. Renaissance styles on the chairs, windows, and chimneys. We were taking pictures of a chair when we were stopped by a museum guard. oops. We didn't know - we had already taken pictures in the castle earlier. ;p We got a great view of the Loire and the city from the castle's tower.
When we exited the castle, we saw signs for a "fête nuit" at the Chateau d'Amboise that evening. I guess in the summertime, each chateau has some evening program. At Chenonceau, there was a nightly garden stroll available and a chance to see the chateau lit at night. We had dinner at this awesome (and very reasonably priced) restaurant called l'Ecluse right next to the free parking lot near the chateau. We had a great prix fixe menu - DH had a delicious duck entree. And since we had time, we dashed back to our B&B to change into warmer clothes for the evening show.
We had gotten the very front seats in a pretty good section so unobstructed view of the whole show. It was mainly a show of historical re-enactments and a chance to see period costumes. They also had a pack of very well-trained horses. It was pretty amazing to see the riders weave around each other. They also had two firebreathers. They alternated where one would take a swig from his bottle and the other would breathe out fire. The show ended with a fireworks display, which was a re-enactment of da Vinci's nighttime festivals for King Francois I who was his generous patron -- Francois gave Le Clos Lucé to da Vinci. (Imagine getting a castle as a gift.)
Our first stop of the day was the Chateau de Chenonceau. We thought we got there early at 9:30am, but there was already a line at the ticket booth. We elected to get a video iPod tour. In some of the rooms, the original flooring can still be seen at the edges where wall meets floor. Generally, beautiful gardens and river views - it's supposed to be one of the most picturesque chateaus. The most intriguing was the last room on the tour. It was a room of mourning, so quite somber compared to the rest of the chateau.
After a quick lunch of sandwiches, we drove off to the city of Amboise. On the drive there, we stopped by the only gas station on the road. We asked around, and it turns out that THIS was the gas station we were to drop off our rental car tomorrow. Good thing we found it..and by accident too! So the guy there told us he would help us arrange a taxi to the train station when we returned our car tomorrow.
In Amboise, DH's lucky navigation found the tourism office (and parking!) very quickly. We visited the Chateau du Clos Lucé where there was an exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's machines, cool replicas that IBM created from his notes. There's also an outdoor area where you can see life-size versions of these machines and try them out.
Last castle of the day was Chateau d'Amboise. The chapel were da Vinci is buried is located here. Throughout the castle, you can see Gothic vs. Renaissance styles on the chairs, windows, and chimneys. We were taking pictures of a chair when we were stopped by a museum guard. oops. We didn't know - we had already taken pictures in the castle earlier. ;p We got a great view of the Loire and the city from the castle's tower.
When we exited the castle, we saw signs for a "fête nuit" at the Chateau d'Amboise that evening. I guess in the summertime, each chateau has some evening program. At Chenonceau, there was a nightly garden stroll available and a chance to see the chateau lit at night. We had dinner at this awesome (and very reasonably priced) restaurant called l'Ecluse right next to the free parking lot near the chateau. We had a great prix fixe menu - DH had a delicious duck entree. And since we had time, we dashed back to our B&B to change into warmer clothes for the evening show.
We had gotten the very front seats in a pretty good section so unobstructed view of the whole show. It was mainly a show of historical re-enactments and a chance to see period costumes. They also had a pack of very well-trained horses. It was pretty amazing to see the riders weave around each other. They also had two firebreathers. They alternated where one would take a swig from his bottle and the other would breathe out fire. The show ended with a fireworks display, which was a re-enactment of da Vinci's nighttime festivals for King Francois I who was his generous patron -- Francois gave Le Clos Lucé to da Vinci. (Imagine getting a castle as a gift.)
posted by pc at
11:47 PM
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