Flowers in the chateau gardens used daily in the house
Gourds
Aramenthe (as it's soon Araminta's birthday)
Gilded console table with floral decoration
Now hows that for a bit of 16th C vanity, and what about that for a frame!
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Flowers in the chateau gardens
Flowers in the chateau gardens used daily in the houseGourds
Aramenthe (as it's soon Araminta's birthday)Gilded console table with floral decoration
Now hows that for a bit of 16th C vanity, and what about that for a frame!
Grape picking machine
Chenonceaux gardens and chateau
Chenonceaux looking along the river Cher
Machine which picks grapes
machine actually picking grapes
Grapes just before they were picked. The bunches are only at the bottom of the vines as the rest have been pruned to a) make the bunches larger and improve the quality and b) make it easier for the machine.
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Photos from Vouvray on the Loire.
The entrance to St Huberts chapel where Leonardo da Vinci's tomb is.
The square in Tours very touristy and expensive!
Vivi and madame at the B and B laying our table for dinner! The house had a huge working watermill and masses of cats.
Found this in Vouvray, trust the Carters to get here before us and made us wonder whether Tom and B have had their baby yet.
In Vouvray the church had the 14 stations of the cross. Here is the 14th. I thought if I photographed them all you'd be bored so here is 14 just to show Murray that's how many there are!!
You'll get 13 next!
Friday, 2 October 2009
Thursday 1st October - Chenonceaux
Thursday 1st October.
Still 17 degs but not quite so sunny which is almost a relief. The Loire is terribly low as there has been no rain for nearly 3 months now. We dread the day it decides to start! After a steep ride out of Ambroise we biked across hilly countryside with some vines (see photo of grape picking monster) and also our first pheasant which judging by the barrage of shots to be heard was probably not the only one in the vicinity, we arrived in Chenonceaux. One of the best known chateau, and according to our b and b landlady it is the second most visited place in France. Luckily by the time we arrived everyone else was having lunch so it was pretty quiet. It was a delightful family chateau (on a rather grand scale) and we have to touch up on our history as Mary, Queen of Scots features prominently here. The kitchen gardens were fantastic but apparently there are 18 full time gardeners so it is hardly surprising. The flower arrangements in the chateau are all grown there and made my efforts at church flowers look a little inadequate.
The renaissance style seems to be minimalist as far as furniture is concerned – where did they hide their TV’s, videos, radios, hats and coats, guns, computers and all that shopping, but they loved a bit of gold - see the photo of the picture of Louis XIV and also the gilded cabinet. Except for the kitchens which frankly have advanced very little in the last 500 years except for the invention of the microwave. Stoves, chopping boards, marble slabs for cooling, racks of pots and pans, every shape of knife and cleaver, garbage disposal straight into the moat, herb drying shelves, storage – it’s all there just not so well packaged and presented.
The chateau takes at least two and a half hours to do it and the gardens justice and one could spend longer, but we were on a mission and that was to get to Villandry by dark which is about 40 miles away so we caught the train from Chenonceaux’s own station back into Tours and then cycled out of the city (bit hairy) onto the Loire au velo and 15 miles and an hour and a half later we were there. And very happy to be in a small non touristy community – ‘cept for the Kiwis staying in the same chambre d’hote – who are charming!
Next time we will try and attach some more photos but they are proving very difficult to load.
Still 17 degs but not quite so sunny which is almost a relief. The Loire is terribly low as there has been no rain for nearly 3 months now. We dread the day it decides to start! After a steep ride out of Ambroise we biked across hilly countryside with some vines (see photo of grape picking monster) and also our first pheasant which judging by the barrage of shots to be heard was probably not the only one in the vicinity, we arrived in Chenonceaux. One of the best known chateau, and according to our b and b landlady it is the second most visited place in France. Luckily by the time we arrived everyone else was having lunch so it was pretty quiet. It was a delightful family chateau (on a rather grand scale) and we have to touch up on our history as Mary, Queen of Scots features prominently here. The kitchen gardens were fantastic but apparently there are 18 full time gardeners so it is hardly surprising. The flower arrangements in the chateau are all grown there and made my efforts at church flowers look a little inadequate.
The renaissance style seems to be minimalist as far as furniture is concerned – where did they hide their TV’s, videos, radios, hats and coats, guns, computers and all that shopping, but they loved a bit of gold - see the photo of the picture of Louis XIV and also the gilded cabinet. Except for the kitchens which frankly have advanced very little in the last 500 years except for the invention of the microwave. Stoves, chopping boards, marble slabs for cooling, racks of pots and pans, every shape of knife and cleaver, garbage disposal straight into the moat, herb drying shelves, storage – it’s all there just not so well packaged and presented.
The chateau takes at least two and a half hours to do it and the gardens justice and one could spend longer, but we were on a mission and that was to get to Villandry by dark which is about 40 miles away so we caught the train from Chenonceaux’s own station back into Tours and then cycled out of the city (bit hairy) onto the Loire au velo and 15 miles and an hour and a half later we were there. And very happy to be in a small non touristy community – ‘cept for the Kiwis staying in the same chambre d’hote – who are charming!
Next time we will try and attach some more photos but they are proving very difficult to load.
Tours, Vouvray and Ambroise
Jewelery box made for Catherine of Medici with a false bottom
Leonardo da Vinci's tomb in St Hubert's chapel
Royal chateau of Ambroise
View of the Loire from the chateau
Beautifully marked kittens at the B&B in VouvrayTuesday 29th September
A mixed day, we got to know Tours quite well; visited the Cathederal St Gatien (another Saint we must look up) which is being restored as it’s made of the local limestone and is crumbling. Having ‘done Tours’ and made arrangements for tonight we left the city heading eastwards towards Blois stopping for lunch at a picnic site adjacent to the troglodyte caves. The Tourist office had assured us we’d see rare species such as beavers and red squirrels, not many of them about but an awful lot of single men lurking behind bushes in varying stages of undress. What could they all have been doing?? We beat a hasty retreat, phew!!
Anyway we made it to Vouvray (Hooray I said) which is north of the river and a very scary bridge to cross too.
Life immediately got much better we visited the Chateau Moncontour hoping to take a tour but it was closing time so we only had time for a tasting (quelle domage) the fizz Cuvee Predilection 2006 @ e7.25 was good enough for any wedding. We then popped into the church in Vouvray (on our way to the supermarket) and it had all 14 stations of the cross. I didn’t photograph them all as it might bore you but did the last one to prove that there are 14! We are staying at an old watermill in the middle of nowhere where we can’t have supper because we booked in too late but we have a picnic. The Belle Mere was so impressed by Vivi’s French as they laid a table in the garden together for our supper that she gave us a bottle of yet more Vouvray made by a friend in the village. A good end to the day.
Wed 30th Sept.
We went off to find the way on to Ambroise via the ‘Loire a Velo’ which is much publicized in the area. In theory it takes you all the way down the Loire and around the wine and chateaux off-road. However it is not quite finished in places. We were floundering a bit at the side of a major road junction, when a fellow cyclist passed by. He immediately took it upon himself to show us the 4 miles on to the correct route at Montlouis sur Loire. It was certainly the speediest part of our trip so far, as he was in full mountain bike kit. We were reminded of following ski instructors down un-pisted mogul fields at breakneck speed! Neither of us dared to have a puncture as we hurtled around pot holes and crevasses on a mountain biking road and there were a few worries about the whiskey bottle breaking in our panniers. However all was well and we crossed the Loire at the side of a 3’ wide foot path alongside a railway. I was very relieved a train did not appear as there was not room for us all. We then proceeded at a more leisurely pace through the first vineyards of our trip. The grapes tasted just fine!.
We ended up at Ambroise, a very pretty town on the banks of the Loire.We visited the Royal Chateau, built in the 14-1500s and was one of the first renaissance chateaux to be built. The most interesting part was seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s tomb there, in the beautiful small chapel of St Hubert. He had lived there for the last 4 years of his life teaching art and inventing things and it was quite humbling to be sitting in the same gardens as the great man himself.
The town was horribly full of tourists and rather expensive so dinner (spoilt by a very tall American boy with huge feet in old trainers which really smelt) and the B and B made the experience not very special!
Thursday, 1 October 2009
la Baule to Tours
The station known as La Vinci (beats George Best International for a name!) in Tours.
The marina at la Croisic (all speed boats) where there wasn't a mast to be seen so watch out yachties.
A boulangerie in Guerande where phew we got some lunch and the church in Guerande.
La Buale to Tours
Monday 28th September.
Yesterday I woke up to find that I had a puncture in my front tyre. Fortunately Monsieur (who had an 800cc Gold Wing Honda) had all the kit to deal with such a disaster (he also had a 33ft yacht at our convenience but failed to tell us this until we were leaving). Madame was more concerned about presenting us with an enormous jar of fig confiture from her own garden which exercised us a tad as we don’t have a spare square centimetre of space in our luggage. They lived in the most ideal situation overlooking the salt marshes and a quarter mile from the sea. They make their own pressed apple juice for breakfast, and have two pussy cats called Romeo and I won’t insult your intelligence.
12 miles later we stopped at the walled medieval town of Guerande very similar to Lucca in Italy which was enchanting. Particularly St Martin’s Eglise which had a very special atmosphere. The streets were full of Charcuteries, Boulangeries, Patisseries, antique shops etc and there seemed to be a lot of school children having their lessons sitting in the square in front of the church.
We then cheated a bit and caught the train from La Baule on the coast all the way to Tours with a change at Nantes which exercised us a little as it was the rush hour and an awful lot of people seemed to want to get on when we had 11 minutes to get bikes and gear off and to another platform. Anyway we did it and on a blissfully comfy train (aren’t all the French trains) we arrived in Tours and realized we really don’t like big cities. But thinking positively we went to the Tourist office who found us a B and B/Gites thing for the night which was very central and comfy and allowed me (Alec) to make Vivi a cup of tea “in bed” in the morning. We had supper in a moderate brasserie in the 15c Place Plumereau surrounded by 20 year olds (Tours is a University city) expecting to see the Capulets coming out of one corner and Othello from another (ha caught you there eh!!) After that we found an internet cafe - whole new experience and even used Skype!!
Yesterday I woke up to find that I had a puncture in my front tyre. Fortunately Monsieur (who had an 800cc Gold Wing Honda) had all the kit to deal with such a disaster (he also had a 33ft yacht at our convenience but failed to tell us this until we were leaving). Madame was more concerned about presenting us with an enormous jar of fig confiture from her own garden which exercised us a tad as we don’t have a spare square centimetre of space in our luggage. They lived in the most ideal situation overlooking the salt marshes and a quarter mile from the sea. They make their own pressed apple juice for breakfast, and have two pussy cats called Romeo and I won’t insult your intelligence.
12 miles later we stopped at the walled medieval town of Guerande very similar to Lucca in Italy which was enchanting. Particularly St Martin’s Eglise which had a very special atmosphere. The streets were full of Charcuteries, Boulangeries, Patisseries, antique shops etc and there seemed to be a lot of school children having their lessons sitting in the square in front of the church.
We then cheated a bit and caught the train from La Baule on the coast all the way to Tours with a change at Nantes which exercised us a little as it was the rush hour and an awful lot of people seemed to want to get on when we had 11 minutes to get bikes and gear off and to another platform. Anyway we did it and on a blissfully comfy train (aren’t all the French trains) we arrived in Tours and realized we really don’t like big cities. But thinking positively we went to the Tourist office who found us a B and B/Gites thing for the night which was very central and comfy and allowed me (Alec) to make Vivi a cup of tea “in bed” in the morning. We had supper in a moderate brasserie in the 15c Place Plumereau surrounded by 20 year olds (Tours is a University city) expecting to see the Capulets coming out of one corner and Othello from another (ha caught you there eh!!) After that we found an internet cafe - whole new experience and even used Skype!!
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