Au revoir, France

Our last day in France... Manon took us for a quick walking tour of the city of Tours, especially the medieval old town. Its yet another amazing place, buildings from so many different ages surviving and being used in a vibrant living city. We saw examples of Roman, Gothic, Renaissance, all coexisting together. The angles of some of the house walls are interesting!! A highlight was when Manon took us down a little cobbled lane behind shops, past the rubbish bins, to a tiny opening into a passage under the medieval houses. The passage was originally *between* the buildings, but as the houses have started to lean over the centuries, they have come to touch and now hold each other up, and so closing over the top of the passage!
Manon then dropped us at the train station for the trip directly to Charles de Gaulle airport, where we are currently waiting for our flights home. It was sad saying goodbye to Manon, she has been such a wonderful guide, we would have loved to bring her home with us! We've had an amazing time in Spain and France, and have seen so much that is new to us, it will take a while to process it all. And we're proud we've got through sharing very small hotel rooms for 30 days and are still best buddies:):) But we are also exhausted, and desperately looking forward to seeing our loved ones (dogs are included in that, of course).

Villandry

Friday was Villandry day - Manon picked us up for the drive to this stunning chateau with famous gardens. We were again very lucky, in that there were no crowds, and we could easily see everything we wanted. Manon explained Villandry is a Rennaissance chateau, so more recent and less ornate than the gothic / Rennaissance chateaux we have already seen, but it was plenty ornate for us:) The rooms are beautifully furnished, and often we were the only people in a room, so could see details of the furnishing without fighting crowds. But Villandry is more known for its gardens, and it's reputation is justified. The most beautiful vegetable snd flower gardens we could imagine, plus maze, swan lake, snd a stunning children's playground. We Wandered around the gardens for ages.
Friday night was a free night, so back to our hotel room to watch the Olympic opening ceremony (in French).
We will upload photos but it might take us a day or so to catch up. We're off to the city of Tour this morning, then we say goodbye to Manon and catch the train directly to Charkes de Gaulle airport, for our trip home. We'll update this blog if we can get free wifi at the airport, but if not, expect a few days wait...

Ambling around Ambiose

Today (Thursday), was spent in Ambiose, all within a 10 minute walk of our hotel. Our guide for today, Letitia, picked us up in the morning (Manon had another commitment today), for the short walk to Clos Luce castle, given to Leonardo da Vinci by his great friend King Francois (who lived in Ambiose castle). He gave da Vinci the castle and grounds plus a mega salary, just for the pleasure of his conversation, and da Vinci lived here until his death. Many of his inventions were designed here, and they are not only illustrated throughout the castle, but demonstrated with large working models throughout the park, for children to play with and explore. So Clos Luce is both an ancient castle worth visiting in its own right, and an interactive memorial park dedicated to the genius of da Vinci.
We then strolled to Ambiose chateau (castle), 5 minutes away, to explore inside the chateau (we had visited the grounds for the reenactment last night) and admire the beautiful (and strategic) view over the Loire river. Again, lots of reference to Francois and da Vinci, who is really revered here, and who is buried in the chapel at the chateau. Lunch was in a delightful local patisserie, with a refreshingly light meal, before a free afternoon.
Dinner was the complete opposite:) we headed off n foot with map and pre-paid voucher in hand, expecting a mid-range restaurant, but got inside an amazing gastronomic experience! Our voucher entitled us to 3 courses from a semi-set menu, plus a bottle of wine, but we were instead offered 4 courses when we explained we didn't want the wine. What they didn't tell us was that we actually got 6 courses, with an unexpected tasting plate for starters, and another tasting plate (5 items each) of sweets as a pre-dessert course. Add the generous plate of chocolates with coffee, and unlimited bread, and it's fair to say we are currently lying down in front of the tv to recover. All of it was exquisite, both in taste and presentation, and made more fun by a gorgeous little waitress with a great sense of humour who was happy to explain everything to us.

Exploring the Loire valley

Strap yourself in for a long one - we packed so much in over the past day and a half, we both have flat batteries in our cameras / phones, so luckily we have a free afternoon today to catch up. First off, we started with a huge breakfast in our very posh boutique hotel (silver service), then our guide Manon picked us up for the drive to Chernonceau. This outing started with a delightful boat trip n the river Cher - so peaceful and beautiful. One point of interest - Cher river has a species of carp which can grow to 2.3 meters, and eats ducks - a point that the kinder kids on our trip found alarming:) Our boat took us *under* Chernonceau chateau - this is a palatial castle built on a bridge, so best appreciated from the water. And we had just the most perfect day to see it - clear blue skies and still waters. Our cute boat guide even entertained us with a flute recital, to further add to the atmosphere.
After leaving the boat, we entered the grounds of Chernonceau, checked out the beautiful flower gardens (every room of the chateau has fresh flowers every day), then took our seats at L'Orangerie restaurant for a fine dining, 4 course extravagance. We only managed 3 courses, and even that was an effort, but such beautifully presented and delicious food! Then onto the chateau itself - a royal residence originally the home of Diane de Poitiers, (mistress of King Henry II), then on the king's death, seized by his wife Catherine Medici. Both used it for palatial entertaining, and it's not hard to see why. Chernonceau became a hospital during WWI, and also played a critical role during WWII, when one side of the river was occupied but the other side was free.
Leaving Chernonceau, Manon drove us to Chaumont, which is where Diane moved in exile. It is on a stunning point overlooking the river, and with the grandest stables we've ever seen. Racing back to Amboise, we checked in for an early dinner (supposed to be 3 courses but we successfully begged for a single course of salad), before heading off for a balloon ride over the valley. This was originally scheduled for later in the week, but schedules were shuffled to get the best conditions. And we're so glad they did - it was just the perfect evening for a balloon flight! So we got to see Chernonceau again, this time from above. Charles our pilot kept us low while we moved over the castle and gardens, then took us up to 1000m for more distant views of the whole Loire region. Just stunning - cant even begin to describe it... You'll just have to look at our photos, and they don't do it justice.
You might think that is enough for one day, but no, we managed to pack one more event in. Ann had noticed a temporary grandstand peeking over the high walls of Amboise chateau from our bedroom window, and on asking, we found that the local villagers put on a re-enactment of key events in their chateau's history. So we managed to get last minute tickets, and made it back into Amboise just in time for their 10pm start, and again, so glad we did this!! A cast of hundreds is involved, and all acting, costumes, props and lighting etc is done by locals, including little children. The key story was told by the court jester, in French, but we picked up key events, from the death of one king (Charles VIII)through the succession, marriage etc of Francois I, including the arrival of Leonardo da Vinci (a great friend of Francois). Scenes included the king's wedding, with dancing, performing horses, and children performing acrobatics - it was all done so professionally we were so impressed.
So a long day saw us crawl back home in the early hours absolutely exhausted, but we couldn't get the smiles off our faces:)

The Loire Valley

We said goodbye to Paris and travelled to St. Pierre des Corps, in the Loire Valley, for our customized tour-for-two. Our guide Manon met us at the station, and we already love her to bits:) She is a recent Uni graduate (majoring in tour guiding), and this is her first summer as a guide. She will be looking after us all week. We started with a 3 course lunch in a little town called Vouvray, before exploring a winery where the wine is made and stored in tunnels dug into the limestone cliffs. Vouvray is one of those areas (like Champagne) that produces a protected type of white wine, only 8 villages can used the Viuvray name, and their wine has to be made to very specific methods. Ann enjoyed tasting a few of their wines, and Debbi bought a bottle for Simon (but don't tell him).
Then it was time to check in at our hotel, and what a delightful place it is! Very olde building (foot-thick walls), but very posh looking. Our room is large by France standards, (although still not large enough to store a suitcase), and we have a giant ensuite, with huge spa bath. Our tiny window even has a view of Amboise chateau (castle). We did get a peek at some of the medieval lanes of Amboise on our way to dinner (another 3 course meal), but have time to explore further later in the week.

Monet's garden

Our last day in Paris was spent getting out of Paris - to the little village of Giverney, home of Monet's house and garden, and scene of his famous waterlillies paintings. The train trip to Vernon was fun - first class travel (again), chatting to 4 other Australian women and an American couple, all heading to the same place. It was fascinating to hear their travel experiences, especially the two Melbourne women who have been following the Tour around France for the past week. At Vernon, we caught a bus shuttle to Giverney along the beautiful Eure river, then took our time exploring the magical gardens. So much more beautiful than either of us imagined. Time for a lovely lunch at a local restaurant, and to explore the village, before heading home again.

Who is following us?

OK, we know most of those viewing our blog are in Australia, with at least one in New Zealand and one in Switzerland. But we're curious about the other followers we have - apart from the odd viewer in Iran, Korea and USA, we seem to have a regular viewer in Russia? Is this someone we know??