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Blogs from Chinon, Centre, France, Europe
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September 22nd 2012
Saturday, Sept 15 - This weekend most of the national monuments and treasures are open to the public free of charge, or almost free, so we decided to take advantage of this…I had a couple of biggies on my list, being Chinon, the home of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Fontevraud, the Abbey where they, Richard the Lionhearted and King John’s wife, Isabelle, were buried. But today we had saved for Chambord, which is one of the jewels of the Loire Valley. After the debacle with all the people at Chenonceau the other day, we decided to get there early, to avoid all the crowds. We were there when it opened and, although we had to pay a small fee, it was worth it. The rooms were beautifully decorated, with wonderful signage ... read more
August 30th 2012
Thursday, 30/08/12 Loire/Crouzilles Lynette figured out a different way of adding to my blog so that the last entry appears first, so it will take some getting used to finding my way around. Anyway, we were too lazy to do something today so we did the cleaning, washing and writing most of the day. We did go in to Chinon to join a guided tour of the castle but it turned out quite weird as the group pretty much sat down and litened to a history lesson from the guide. She went through all those who had lived in the castle and who killed who and who were the cousin or brother of whom and how the castle had played its role in the history of Europe. After almost an hour she took us to one ... read more
August 6th 2011
today I was in for a round cycle trip of 55kms, I started off at about 9.30am today. I biked through mostly farming areas today, lots of sunflower fields and a few kms by the river. I biked through Savigny-en-Veron, Candes-St-Martin and quite a few small villages. They were quite amazing as in Parnay they had cave apartments in which there is a lot of cellers for wine growers, certainly not something you see every day. Then it was onto Fontevraud, Couziers, Lerne and Cinais which were all small quaint little towns. Being saturday there wasn't mush open on the way and there wasn't the stopping for all the Chateaus as there were none on he route, which was a nice break for the day. I got back to the hotel mid afternoon. after some lunch ... read more
August 5th 2011
So today was the first day of cycling. I got up nice and earrly (6.30am - yes shock horror I wouldn't be doing that at home) and had a nice big breakfast with crossaints, eggs on toast, youghurt, oj and coffee. So after that got everything prepared to start. It was overcast and slightly drizzly, but had to go sooner or later as 60km ahead of me. Left the hotel at 8am and was on my way and managed to get slightly lost leaving Tours, after cycling for 1.5hrs I made it to Castle Villandry. The castle was a large one and absolutly beautiful, the gardens were amazingly big and all colour co-ordinated with special designs all having a certain meaning. After spending about 2hrs there I was on my way again following the river Cher ... read more
March 28th 2010
Yesterday we had our last day-long excursion. I can't believe it's getting toward the end of the semester already! (Although really it just feels like it's getting to the end of the semester because classes are almost over and we have almost three weeks off in April--I still have a solid two months left in Europe. Yay!) We went to Fontevraud, an old abbey that was built around 1100. It’s famous/unique because (besides being pretty) there was always an abbess (a woman) in charge of the abbey—not a man. Also, after the French Revolution, Napoleon turned the Abbey into a prison—and it stayed a prison until 1985! Sadly, the weather was rainy on and off the entire time for us—we haven’t had one excursion with nice weather the entire day! After the tour of the abbey, ... read more
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Loire valley cycle, day 4 - Chinon to Azay-le-Rideau
Published: September 22nd 2008Europe » France » Centre » Chinon
September 9th 2008
A beautiful blue sky morning, we cycled up the hill towards the chateau in Chinon, and then onwards to Chateau Usse for a glimpse. Hills. Forest. Farms. Sunflowers. Hills. Sweat. Low gear. Usse was behind tall walls and and entry fee we didn't like. The cycle from Usse finally took in some river views, as we followed a narrow two lane road along the banks to Langeais. It felt like a cycle road with occasional cars that looked so out of place. At Langeais, the rain hit. Langeais itself is understated, but impressive in the old details and furnishings. By the time we emerged, the sky was clearing and we had clear skies all the way to Villandry and to Azay-le-Rideau. Villandry's gardens really are worth visiting, for the fact that it is a producing garden, ... read more
