Four Chateaus you shouldn't miss

(This blog is late because caves aren't very good for internet connectivity.  Today we spent the day driving to the Dordogne Valley, about which we'll tell you tomorrow and Friday. Hint: luxury hotels are different from caves.)

YESTERDAY:

Okay, so my feet are tired. They’ve earned it. We accomplished our goal today of seeing four famous chateaus in the Amboise area in the heart of the Loire valley.  But before I get into that, I want to put in a plug for the town of Amboise itself. If you come to France to see chateaus, you could do worse than find a hotel room in Amboise. Our cave is about 10 km away, but let’s face it—caves aren’t everyone’s cup of tea; now that we've done it, we're not even sure it's our cup of tea! We’ve eaten in several Amboise establishments and received consistently good friendly service at good prices. The first two chateaus you’ll see are in the town itself, and the other three are within a half-hour drive. Yes, three; one was a surprise along the way to the fourth one. So off we go.

Royal Chateau of Amboise

From across the Loire river, partly hidden by the modern construction along the riverside, you see the Royal Chateau at Amboise, home to kings from Charles VII (late 15th century) to Louis I about a hundred years later. It was tough being king in those days. The second resident king, Charles VIII, died after bumping his head on one of those low lintels, and no one dared move him. He lay there nine hours before dying.

That looks like a big enough place for several generations of kings to call home, but check this out—the black portion is what remains today, the red is what the various kings before had at their disposal.

The current claim to fame of the castle is that its St. Hubert Chapel is the final resting place for the remains of Leonardo da Vinci.

Clos de Lucé

And that brings us to our second in-town chateau.  This is sometimes called a manor house, and probably more appropriately so.  By some accounts the most important man of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci, was invited by King Francis I to come to Amboise to live out his remaining years in this garden home.

As befitting the guest of a king, Leonardo lived in style, as hinted at by his bedroom. Not bad for a part-time inventor and painter of the Mona Lisa, eh?

Chenonceau

Our next stop was a 20-minute drive away to one of the most iconic chateaus in the Loire Valley, Chenonceau.  Instead of a normal moat, it actually spanned the Cher river.

During World War I, the chateau was used as a hospital, treating over 2,000 troops for the duration of the war. (All you Downtown Abby fans should have an idea what that might have entailed.)  The Great Hall served as the primary treatment center.

During its history, the chateau was the home of Diana de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II. She left her stamp on the chateau both inside and out. You can still see floor tiles with the "Double D" stamped into them. Once the king died, his wife, Catherine de Medici, evicted Diana and assumed control of the castle. Catherine had a bad case of “anything you can do I can do better”, which shows mostly in the gardens.  Compare two views of the chateau from the two gardens, Diana’s first, then Catherine’s.

Blois

As far north of Amboise as Chinonceau is south is the town of Blois with its own castle.  This castel is a study in styles.  First, see the famous Francis I Staircase:

If you’ve ever seen Biltmore Estates in North Carolina, this may look familiar.  On the two ends of that building you can see the edges of two others in completely different styles

Every king had his own “logo”.  Louis XII for some reason fancied the porcupine.  This motif is used as a walking tour assistant; at strategic points around town you will find embedded in the sidewalks a 4-inch diameter plate with a porcupine logo, to help keep you on track.  This one is in a pediment over a doorway.

Chaumont

Finally, on our way to Blois, we looked across the river and saw this.  It’s Chaumont and we are saving it for our next trip to the Loire.

Next we’re off to the Dordogne for more “beautiful villages” and maybe the occasional chateau.

Chateaus at Ussé and Azay

Today we will start with a castle that you may not know by its French name, Chateau Ussé, but you most definitely know it by its more common name, Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

By French tradition, this is the castle that the writer Charles Perrault had in mind when he wrote the French version of the classic fairy tale.  Behind the castle you see that edge of the immense Chinon Forest, which contributes to the French name of the tale, La Belle au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty of the Forest).  The current owners of the castle have paid recognition to the tale by including scenes from the story along with the other tableaus showing actual life in the castle throughout the six centuries since its construction. Here we have the poignant scene of Prince Charming arriving at the end of Aurora's 100-year sleep.

The front yard, while not quite so sumptuous as some castles', still met Anita's standards as a yard she could live with. Of course, I'm not quite the gardener for that assignment.

For more on this marvelous chateau, see Chateau d'Ussé.

We got kind of a late start on castles today, due to a combination of weather and a visit to the local tourism office to chart our plan.  The only other chateau we were able to fit in was Azay le Rideau.
Situated on a tiny island in a slightly less tiny lake in the middle of the town, the chateau seemed quite out of place.  I'm guessing the town grew up around it over the centuries.

The interior is well kept, showing life in the castle from the 16th century to the 19th.  Here, for instance, is how you might have dined a couple hundred years ago, or last night maybe, if you pick your hostess well!

The weather cleared this afternoon, and if it holds out tomorrow, we should have a royal chateau, Leonardo da Vinci's last home, and the famous Chenonceau, all of which are less than half an hour from our cave.

Sainte Suzanne and The Cave

This morning we bid a fond adieu to our hostess in Roz-sur-Cuesnon near Mont St. Michel and made our way south to Amboise. For you racing fans, that takes us through Le Mans, where we missed the big race by five days. Oh, well, you can't have it all, I guess. After seeing me motor through the French countryside, I'm sure they would have loaned me a car and let me have a go at it.

Speaking of driving in France, today was "one of those days". First, remember that the last time I drove outside the USA was 46 years ago, before the standardization of roadsigns.  But even with that development, consider this sign. For those of you who haven't actually encountered it, come on now, be honest--can you guess what it means?

Yeah, I couldn't either. And because of that, I found myself dead-ended at a picnic table where some very nice locals explained it to me in a combination of French and international sign language. It means "Yield to oncoming traffic", and was at each end of a one-lane bridge. As soon as the bridge cleared, it was my turn. So remember that the next time you rent a car outside the USA.

Oh, and one other thing--know when the holidays are and gas up beforehand. Today was Pentecost, a very important holiday to the predominantly Roman Catholic population, so many businesses were closed or operating shorthanded. Finding a gas station with a diesel pump and a clerk (to take the credit cards that don't work in the pay-at-the-pump facilities) was the work of about fifteen minutes of exploring with "Angela", our very faithful and patient GPS-based navigator. If you ever decide to drive abroad and don't bring a GPS with you, don't blame me for what you get yourself into!

The drive to Amboise took us near enough to Ste. Suzanne to justify stopping off for lunch at one of the "most beautiful villages in France", as our book suggested. This was well worth the time.  After lunch on the town square (under the white marquee)

we strolled around town, first checking out the little church then winding our way through the picturesque alleys overlooking the marvelous countryside

and ending up at the chateau.

We finally pulled ourselves away to continue on to Amboise.  Along the way we passed a wheat field with a manor house overlooking it that just took our breath away.

Amboise is in the Loire valley, with many chateaus for us to see over the next couple of days.  But on the other end of the altitude scale from the typical hilltop chateau is the repurposed wine cellar (cave in French) where we are staying these three nights. Before you let your imagination get away from you, have a look:

The arched door on the left is the entrance from the gated courtyard into the main room with the chandelier, fireplace, and kitchenette. I'd say the life of the troglodyte isn't what it used to be.

Tomorrow we'll take you on a tour of some chateaus that you may recognize and some that may be new to you. See you then!

Mont St. Michel

One of the most iconic images of France outside the city of Paris is Mont St. Michel at the boundary between the regions of Normandy and Brittany (Bretagne).

Originally built in the 10th century as a retreat center for an order of monks who venerated Saint Michael, the usage of the building evolved over time. It soon became a Benedictine center during the reign of Richard I (Lionheart), eventually being relegated to the role of state penitentiary under Louis XI. During this time, one of the more interesting (to me, as an engineer) additions was the crank used to hoist provisions from the middle levels of the mount to the upper prison area. You can see from the photo how a prisoner or a few could enter the crank, gerbil-like, to provide hoisting power.

Finally, the mount was made a historical landmark, and a few finishing touches were added, such as this garden in the cloisters. Definitely the original cloister would have had a bit of life in it, but not so much color as today. Be aware that this is all rooftop space, with very little structure extending above this garden.

 

Back on the mainland, life goes on. For our visit to this part of France we have been the bed-and-breakfast guests of a gracious hostess whom I have christened "Mrs. As-You-Wish". No matter what we ask about, her biggest desire is to do whatever will make us feel more at home. And here's home:

It's a 150-year old home that she is continuously tinkering with. On one end of the modernity spectrum are electrically actuated window shades and on the other is a 150-year old staircase with enough headroom for Anita but not for me, unless I remember to duck! We are in the community of Roz-sur-Couesnon just a few kilometers south of the mount. A few miles away, where we had dinner tonight, is Beauvoir. If you're ever in the neighborhood looking for a place to stay, and aren't the B&B types, consider Hotel Gue de Beauvoir below; we can definitely recommend the restaurant "Le Fermette" across the street.

Tomorrow we trek south to Amboise in the Loire valley. Expect chateaus.

D-Day reprise

Because of our travel challenges on D-Day itself, we couldn't get to the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach.  We remedied that today, so you'll get just a taste more of what it means here.

First, meet Eric and Sally, British re-enactors.

Anita just had to learn first hand how the 1940s hairstyle was done, so she emerged from her normally shy and reserved shell (ha!) and approached Sally to get the details.  After several minutes of learning all about it, along with the ins and outs of "Victory Rolls", a friend of theirs joined us.  This was the first year the friend's father was no longer alive to visit the grave of his buddy who was killed by a German sniper while carrying John Steele to safety after Steele's frightening experience on the steeple at Ste. Mere-Eglise.  Meeting someone that close to such an iconic event helped connect us more firmly to the place.


Another thing was this simple display in the visitor center:  It's a graphic reminder that on such a day as that, lives are cut short without warning, and other lives have to move on, leaving a simple plea for those coming after to do something more permanent with the remains of those who gave it all.






 And eventually that happened. Over 9,000 bodies are buried at this cemetery, not a full count to be sure, but a large enough collection to remind the world that when enough people are willing to make enough of a sacrifice, the world can be a better place.

We finally left D-Day behind, and spent most of the afternoon driving to our B&B near Mont St. Michel.  This is the only glimpse we had of it today; more to come tomorrow:

One interesting bit of history was found at the restaurant where we had dinner.  It seems that another "telegraph" was invented in the 18th century by Claude Chappe. It worked visually, much like semaphores.  Two swiveling arms were affixed at either end of a central supporting bar, so that the arms could be positioned independently from one another and from the center bar.  Made large enough to be seen with telescopes far away, it was used for signaling over great distances (for the late 18th century), but it was soon supplanted by the electric telegraph.  This unit's crossbar is about 10 feet long, but they were built as big as thirty feet.

Tomorrow, Mont St. Michel and St. Malo, farther along the coast.

Yesterday we rented our car in Rouen, and we knew that there was a little church there, but we weren’t sure about what to expect for checking into our apartment in Honfleur, so we put off the church until today, driving back to Rouen for that purpose. With that background, you might imagine that this little church is special; you’re onto us by now, I suppose!

Claude Monet, the famous painter of water lilies (I told you about him last summer), also loved this church. He must have loved it, to have produced at least X copies of his impression of it.  For your benefit, I’ve grabbed three images from the Web for a bit of side-by-side comparison (well, maybe not quite side-by-side; I'm still a newbie with Blogspot's page layout features).

The reason for the lack of originality is that today, the façade is under restoration, and looks like this (without correcting for perspective).  

The “parvis” in front of the façade is too short to allow for a full view without the perspective distortion that you see here.  But notice the area on the left, with several niches empty of the statuary that belongs there.  Those are being restored or reproduced; in the meantime, the worn originals are on display inside the cathedral.

And speaking of the inside… I think Anita and I have some kind of gift, or maybe an internal metaphysical connection with organists’ rehearsal schedules, because like our visit to Saint Severin in Paris a few days ago, we got in on a rehearsal.  Today we lucked out again, getting a preview of a couple of prayer responses and a postlude from this bad boy:

From Rouen we headed west along the coast from Honfleur to the twin communities of Deauville and Trouville. Our family is planning a few days in a beach house near Gilchrist, Texas in a few weeks; I’m thinking it won’t quite be like this one in Deauville. 

 

 And when we decide to go out and get some fried catfish, it probably won’t be like The Three Magi:

With all this, France has incredible variety.  As we pulled away from our parking spot at the cathedral in Rouen, I noticed this restaurant behind me, but we had just eaten, so we couldn’t give you any informed commentary on the quality.

Tomorrow is the 70^th Anniversary of D-Day.  Our plan is to start with the Bayeux Tapestry, then go farther west to experience the parade in the village of Ste. Mere-Eglise, the first town to be liberated as part of the largest invasion in the history of warfare.  We expect crowds, so wish us luck.

A Maritime Town from Centuries Past

Today we engaged the trains and automobiles part of my manly contribution to this trip, leaving Paris by train, renting a car in Rouen, and ending the day in Honfleur. This is a sailing town across the mouth of the Seine River from Le Havre on the northern end of the Normandy region of France. The town is at least 800 years old, and the open-sea fishing craft in the marina have given way to pleasure craft, many from across the channel, but marinas always carry a mystique that will not die.

I haven't been able yet to find a good history of this building, but right at the edge of the marina was what appears to have been an early inn.

This inn was complete with something I don't think I'd ever actually seen before--an organ grinder. In a concession to the times we live in, the monkey was fake, but the organ itself was real, and the music actually enjoyable.

In this view of one of the really old alleys, the building on the right is one wall of the second church in town, built in the 1300s. One of the lasting impressions one gets from travel outside the USA is a grasp of what constitutes "old" in the rest of the world.

One thing the new sailors bring is money, and one consistent marketing strategy to encourage the movement of some of that money is style. If you present the right style, you can attract some of that money, even if it's not the most expensive spot in town. For instance, after we selected a middle-of-the-road price range for dinner, Anita applied one of her simple tests for where to settle in for the meal: who has the best flower arrangements? We got orchids.

Everyone wants a piece of history.  One of Honfleur's uncredited claims to fame is the very early work done on the screw-drive propeller system that dominates navigation today.  Frederic Sauvage used the marina to prove the efficiency and effectiveness of this technology, but failed at the marketing of his idea, got no lasting credit, and spent much of the end of his life in debtor's prison.

Honfleur was fortunate to escape the horrors of World War II with no damage.  Tomorrow we'll head back to Rouen for a look at another fortunate site, Notre Dame of Rouen, a masterpiece of Gothic cathedral architecture, and one of Claude Monet's favorite subjects.  We'll also crack open our copy of Les Plus Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France), from which the URL for this blog is taken, and see if we can find a special little village to share with you.