Highlight Amboise

We packed up and then went for a walk-through with Dave. We hadn’t left anything, but he said they like to check, as so many people have.

We had intended to be in Blois for 3pm but had a text asking us to make it either 2.30pm or 4pm. So we changed plans and decided to go to the chateau at Amboise on the way and arrive at 4pm. Then John spotted we were going by Le Mans and wanted to drive past the track. Replanning on the way had issues as 3 GPS’s gave different routes. We found later if we had put in the Museum we would have been fine. But we did get there and had a drive past because the area was full of no parking signs. We stopped in the next rest area to eat our picnic lunch, and there was even a spare table for us in the nicely set out area.

We got to Amboise, and sent a message to the airBNB people (Alain and Fabienne) to say we would now arrive after 4pm.

John had a snooze in the car as he is still not really caught up on sleep after all this time. Katherine and I headed for the chateau and did a walk-through, but focused mainly on the grounds and views, both of which we liked better than the chateau itself, probably because we are not that au fait with French history,

We entered via a set of stairs and exited onto the terrace. Here we went into the St Hubert Chapel and found a tour group about to start. So we went to the various viewpoints to take photos, mainly of the Loire. We saw the trench where the King had hit his head while playing ‘real’ tennis in 1498, and died within hours.

We went along the sentries walk, an upper gallery where the guards could watch the boats on the river and the crossing area. The noble guardsmen’s room came next, where the route to the Kings quarters were guarded. The next area was the king’s dressing room. Most of the rooms were sparsely decorated, following what we read was the pattern of the time. The court would travel with their furniture, so the chateaux were basically empty when the Court was not present. We read that King Francois travelled for over 8000 days of his reign of 11778 days, and a later King had a Court of 10000 people.

The council chambers were large. During the Renaissance, the King insisted that senior lords lived by his side for many months, so their wives became part of the court and various festivities followed.

The next room mentioned the change in dining. Trestle tables were replaced here with richly decorated extendable tables, but there was only a slow acceptance of forks, however knives and spoons were popular.

The next area was the bedchamber of Kings and also occupied by Catherine de Medici who even I had heard of. She was the power behind the throne during the reign of her sons. It was also in this area that the painting of the death of Leonardo D Vinci could be seen. It shows Leonardo at his death with the King (Francois) in attendance, although he was not actually there at the time.

Then there was a change of style with the use of much bolder colours. We read in one room that the Duc d’Orleans inherited the chateau from his mother and then bought 46 houses around it to demolish and open up the area. I liked the music room here, with the harp and grand piano.

From the roof we had views of both the gardens and the Loire. There was a room built here in 1843 and it is a shame it no longer exists. We later went down the ramp which was built to allow horse and carriages to reach the terrace from the town. This appeared to be more than a little ostentatious!!

We sort of wandered the gardens – our speed was a bit more than a wander as we had to get back to the car within the time we had paid for a ticket, but slow enough to appreciate them. The Naples Terrace is the lower garden and was very formal. The other gardens had a lot of box hedging, oaks, rosemary and jasmine.

We could not leave without seeing the bust of Leonardo de Vinci, and then his tomb. His bust stands at the spot he was initially buried. His tomb is in the St Hubert Chapel and his bones were transferred to here in 1871.

We stopped in the township so Katherine could take a photo of the clock tower for me for a cache. We checked the time and headed back to the car where John had had a short nap. We made our way to the airBNB with only the name of the parking spot still needed. We did not receive the message telling us the whereabouts of the parking area which is ‘closed off’ with a strip of safety tape. However, our hostess was waiting nearby and blocked the traffic on the one-way road so we could backup and get in. That was lucky as we had spent the last few minutes on very, very, narrow roads with pedestrians wandering about and people on bikes, so doing a round trip back would have been a hassle.

Fabienne was lovely and had excellent English as she lived in London for 24 years. She told us all the things we needed to know for the apartment and the town, and emphasized that chateaux are usually unfurnished. She also gave us the chance to extend our checkout of 11pm, which was perfect for getting Katherine to the station for 12.13pm on Wednesday.

We are 3 minutes from the chateau and even closer to a main church. We are in the historic area, but on the less touristy side of the chateau and it is peaceful but close to everything.

I then went for a walk to find out where the chateau entrance was and then find a bit more of the town. I took the chance to do a virtual cache and failed to find another as I couldn’t translate the hint properly. I then returned to the apartment and joined the others in a quiet time.

We had tried a few times to book in to the nearest restaurant which is 1 minute away and had been recommended by Fabienne. It was shut, and stayed shut, so we finally decided it was closed on Mondays. Instead we walked for 5 minutes and went to a place that seemed busy enough to be good. It was disappointing as the food was indifferent and a muck up with Johns meal meant we think ours sat and was not hot when delivered. The desserts were lovely though.

We wandered through the town in the evening air and saw a few shops with shorts for John to possibly buy tomorrow.