Loire Valley (part 2)

Thursday 15^th August Nouan to Amboise

Still at the campsite I again spent the morning working and Mike ‘set too’ on the inside of the van cleaning the carpets etc. It was not until 5pm that we were ready to leave. Now getting pretty desperate for gas we headed for the Super U across the river at Mer. However once we got there we realised that today was a public holiday and that all the shops were shut. No food or gas!

We continued westward along the Loire until we spotted the Chateau Chaumont on the other side of the river. We crossed the bridge and parked on the river bank.. The chateau looked very impressive but was closed so we could not get any close up views. We also saw some signs advertising a BBQ with free folk music. We decided to investigate which meant trudging up the hill. We were a bit disappointed when we arrived as we were not interested in the food and the music was not up to much as at the time we were there it was CDs only so we turned round to get back to the van. Here there was a much more exciting sight as four hot air balloons were just taking off. Three of them were so close together that they appeared to be impeding each others uplift. We were concerned that a) they were going to end up in the river or b) not clear the trees on the opposite bank. However just in time they pulled free of each other and gently rose upwards.  It was an impressive sight. We followed the balloons for a bit in the van and then pulled off the road in a picnic area, had supper and went to bed.

Friday 16^th August Amboise

We had our breakfast in our overnight picnic area and then we headed into the commercial area of Amboise to get our LPG and food. We then spent quite a bit of time sorting out the Old Stables again with Rosemarie and the electricians so that it was 12.30pm when we were ready to head to our next chateau at Chenonceau. This is a very picturesque chateau as it spans the river Cher. We arrived to find it absolutely packed with coaches, cars, bikes and motorhomes. Fortunately there was a dedicated parking area for the latter so we were able to find somewhere to park. Our initial intention had been to walk around the grounds of the chateau but this was not possible so we paid 11 euros each to visit the chateau and gardens. It was a lovely building and most impressive were the flower arrangements that were in each room, flowers were grown for this purpose on site. We stayed for 2.5 hours and then headed back to Amboise for the night.

Once parked up in the aire here we got on our bikes and cycled to the old centre of the town to see Le Clos Luce, a chateau which has close associations with Leonardo da Vinci and Chateau Royal which stands proudly above the Loire.  It was a ‘buzzy’ little town and we enjoyed wandering around it. The highlight was entering one of the ‘caves’ for a free wine tasting. We had to purchase a glass for 3 euros and then we were free to taste any of the wines on offer for the local wine producers. We ended up buying a Touraine Amboise Sauvignon.

We then cycled back to the van where we had a salad supper and an early night.

Saturday 17^th August Villandry

Today we planned to continue westward along the Loire to view the many chateaux.  I had wanted to visit Villandry as it was famous for its beautiful gardens and so we headed there first after driving through Tours. At Villandry we found ourselves parked in an orchard from where it was a short walk to the Chateau entrance. We spent about 2.5 hours wandering through the many beautiful and different gardens, that included a knot garden, a water garden, a herb and a vegetable garden. We then headed back to the orchard where we had parked where we had our lunch before setting off westwards again.


 The next two chateaux at Usse and Montsoreau provided good photo opportunities before we moved on to the small town of Saumur. Here the Loire was very wide with sand banks. I had just sat myself down with the binoculars to watch the birds when Mike encouraged me to see the Royal Chapel Notre Dame. It was an unusual building (with odd proportions) with a huge high dome. There was also yet another chateau at the other end of the town. We continued westwards through Chenehutte and Gennes and had a last stop on a pretty stretch of river at Cunault. Here was a privately owned villa which had its own access to a chapel via anarched walkway. We then cut across country to Rochefort sur Loire and found a parking spot by the river Louret. At the local restaurant a salsa band was playing so we had latin music to accompany our supper and bedtime.