We left
Our friends Claude and Chantal live in St Pere sur Loire at the other end of the Sully bridge from Chateau Sully sur Loire seen here behind the beautiful street flowers.
Last time we visited they took us to the Chateau Gien which is a Hunting museum with hundreds of head trophies on all the walls and all types of guns and Chateau neuf sur Loire. We had a lovely time with them and we each use the dictionary for words we do not know.
Chantal is a great cook, one fabulous entrée we had was with Buffalo
We left here and caught up with Oliver again to celebrate Kevin's Birthday.
We stayed in a municipal camp ground with camping spots separated by hedges which only cost 7 euro
A good time was had by all with a few headaches next morning.
The Loire is the longest river in France, the brochures say the Loire is a ‘Queen loved by Kings’. As we travel downstream through the valley of the Loire we are amazed by the number of Chateaux, Churches and fortified Farm Houses. It is a very wide river but too shallow for boating except the shallow French boats with flat bottoms.
It is crossed by many bridges which are really beautiful.
And stayed in the municipal park alongside the Loire for the low cost of 5 euro and saw this tiny caravan
Some views along the way. A lovely covered market place.
We visited Chennonceaux Chateau. It was absolutely fabulous and one the few chateau where they are happy for you to take photos inside. If you can only visit one Chateau this is a MUST.
They have beautiful flower arrangements everywhere which are grown in the farm nursery. We arrive late in the afternoon and found a spot in the free motorhome park outside the grounds. The Chateau and gardens didn’t close until 9pm so we had plenty of time to look around when most of the day tourists had left.
Chenonceaux is surrounded by a moat and the River Cher flows under the Great Hall. The formal gardens are on both sides and the farm and flower nursery gardens are for visiting also.
Part of the great hall
I love the tapestries, painting and the flowers
My favourite doorman.
Diane de Poitiers Garden in shades of Pink. Here you can see some of the 60 or more large urns of geraniums which line the wall.
Catherine de Medici garden in shades of blue. You may notice in the photo where the towers which are undergoing renovation have a covering on which a photo has been painted so as not to spoil the view from this angle.
One last photo as the sun goes down and it is time to wander back to Harry for the evening. What a wonderful day!
As a change we turn away from the Loire through some small towns.
Tried picking blackberries
Checked out the forests but decided not to walk in when we saw these signs on the road showing a wild boar.
Today we are visiting the Chateau du Clos-Luce where Leonardo da Vinci lived the last 3 years of his life. The brochure says ‘He was under the protection of King Francois 1 and his sister Marguerite de Navarre and lived these days painting and working on his myriad of passions’.
We lined up with the crowd and enjoyed the afternoon. The chateau is a lovely pink brick and white Tufa stone.
The rooms are being restored to their original appearance. This was Leonardo’s bedroom
There were lovely tapestries.
But it was the rooms below where the original drawings have been brought to life with computer graphic video presentations and models.
His aeronautical designs
He designed a swing bridge, river lock and the paddle boat.
The idea of a speedometer, geared motors.
War machines. The plans of an armoured tank and a machine gun, centuries before they came into existence.
There was also a hall with models. These were some of his mechanical engineering ideas.
Another interesting day and Kevin is keen to read more about Leonardo da Vinci, the painter and the inventor.
Today we are indulging in a spot of wine tasting and a self guided walk through the tunnels.
We checked out the Champignon as well. Like wine they are happy living in the tunnels.
Our next visit was to a Chateau was to Villandry which is more famous for its gardens than the chateau itself. The renaissance gardens of Villandry were restored to their former glory in 1910. There is a water garden, a sun garden, a maze, a herb garden and the vegetable garden which I think is the most amazing where the colours of the vegetable foliage are used for display instead of flowers. The gardens are very large and set in terraces with green walkways which are higher so there is a lovely view of each garden area as you walk by.
The lavender garden is a picture.
The vegetable garden is amazing, it is a fantastic sight to see lettuce, purple capsicum, leeks and red cabbage making such a lovely show. Around 250,000 individual flowers and vegetables are planted each year. The box hedges would measure 52 km if placed end to end and 1200 lime trees spread over the gardens. Espaliered apple trees form the borders of the vegetable gardens and pear trees are used the same as rose standards.
It was soon time to leave as it was dinner time and the beautiful fresh vegetables were making us hungry.
Driving through Samur we checked out Chateau Saumur on the way from the outside.
and now I think I am all chateauxed out and we cross the Loire and head north.
