Sunday morning we were on the road again, but not before trying some Far Breton Aux Pommes, the local Brittany specialty (basically apple pie), with breakfast.
Our lucky run of sunny days also ended, with light rain and cloudy skies as we made our way to Amboise, in the Loire Valley.
We reached our hotel by early afternoon, dropped the car off and hurried into town to grab lunch before service closed at 2pm. The French, it seems, are quite strict about when lunch is served – between 12 and 2; we are learning to make sure we plan our travel around this – and to book in advance!
After lunch we walked around the town centre, past the Château d’Amboise, and along the Loire to the Sunday markets. Unfortunately most of the food stalls had closed, but we did manage to catch a few, and bought some cheese cake and salami. We then went to try some local Amboise wines and bought a couple of bottles.
We walked across the Loire river along the way – the region is currently in a period of major drought and therefore the river has very low water levels.
Late afternoon we headed back to our hotel and checked in, and freshened up before heading out to dinner. Our room is in Manoir St Thomas, a very cute boutique hotel close to the city centre; and it has air conditioning and a pool – luxury! Our place in St Malo had no aircon so we had really suffered in the heat at night.
The following day was castle (chateaux) day! In the morning we drove along the Loire to Château de Chambord, roughly an hour from Amboise. The Loire valley is famous for it’s Chateaux, and we saw many on the drive to Chambord.
Château de Chambord is the most magnificent of them all. Built in the 15th century for king Francis as a hunting lodge, it combined castle and palace like features into one, influenced by Italian renaissance architecture.
Inside was equally amazing with a double spiral stone staircase in the centre, and upstairs it had a home theatre room!
From the top you had views across the expansive grounds.
After looking around the castle we headed to the stables for the horse and bird show. It was well done, with a story book type setting where they reenact the life of King Francis, with the bird show and horse riding skills mixed in.
As you can imagine Bel loved the horses and the riding skills on show, she also enjoyed the slap stick humour – especially the fart jokes.
On our drive back to Ambois we decided to drive through Blois, another very pretty chateau town – a lot bigger than Ambois.
While driving we also noticed that each village had a section of garden plots, each plot with its own shed etc. While they were all side by side and there were no houses, they looked like they were individually owned.
Once back in Amboise it was time check out the local castle, Château de Amboise, located in the centre of the town a couple of minutes walk from our hotel. It is quite grand and was used as the Royal Residence in the 15th and 16th century by French kings including Charles VIII and Francois 1er. It is also the burial place Leonardo Da Vinci.
First established in the 10th century, it was confiscated by the Royals in the 15th century and redeveloped through to the early 1600s. It is much more like your typical castle on the outside, but with very ornate lodges and gardens inside.
By the time we walked through we were all castled out for the day so we grabbed an afternoon crepe with drinks
and then another lovely dinner. Time to try the snails!
On our last day in Amboise we visited the Chateau du Clos Lucé – the residence of Leonardo Da Vinci for the last 3 years of his life. Leonardo was a good friend of King Francis, who offered him free use of the Chateau. It turned out to be a big win for France as he brought the Mona Lisa with him – the reason it is in French hands!
The house was fitted out as if he still lived there, very interesting to explore.
On the bottom floor they had models of all his engineering inventions, similar the the museum we visited in Florence.
Outside there were expansive gardens to explore, with full size models of his inventions spread throughout.
There was also a large pigeon house, used to house and breed hundreds of pigeons for their eggs, meat and feathers.
We then visited the gallery where they were hosting the masterpiece Saint Jerome, on loan from the Vatican for two months. It’s another incomplete work, but the expression and detail on Saint Jerome’s face in incredible.
The rest of the day and our stay in Amboise was a well earned rest. A short wander through the streets and shops we hadn’t visited previously, picking up some cheese, bread, and local sparkling (as you do :-)). Then we headed back to our room and attempted to have swim in the pool, but this was quickly disrupted by rain.
And at dinner that night we ticked another French dish off the list – Coq au Vin.
Learning lots from your commentary. You obviously did your homework & planned your trip well. So interesting! Xx
Lots of research, but also learning a lot on the way 😊