Day 11: French Food Market, Almost; Amboise, Da Vinci’s Final House,and Chateau Chenonceau.

---

After morning heart starter number three at a Cafe in the Square, we set off for the village market in Poć-Sur-Cisse and arrived just in time to witness the butchers van make his last sale for the day before packing up and moving on. The car park he was located in wouldn’t have supported many stall holders anyway, so we don’t think we missed much. They must have packed up early due to low sales; this village is quiet.

Chateaus are a common sight as you drive around the Loire Valley, but most aren’t considered important enough to rate a mention in the tourist guides, and the Chateau Poce Sur Cisse is one such chateau. We stumbled across this noble residence on a substantial estate, and bought some rolls at the local patisserie and ate our lunch in the grounds. It is probably still a private residence, but the grounds are open to the public.

Amboise, our second stop, was the childhood home of Charles VIII, and where Leonardo da Vinci took his last breath. The village sits on the southern banks of the River Loire, currently running at half pace, and Le Clos Lucé was offered to Da Vinci by Francois I, an fan of Da Vinci and an admirer of the Italian Renaissance period. Da Vinci was 64 by the time he moved in and spent his time think up new contraptions , drawing, and constructing scale models of his ideas. The word Genius comes to mind whenever Leonado’s name comes up. Unfortunately, the only time it comes up in reference to me is on Booking.com, because am a regular customer. Sad really. I’ll just hang my hat on that, as long as they’ll have me.

Built in the 16th century, Chenonceau Chateau replaced the fortified castle belonging to the Marques Family, leaving only the Marques Tower, still standing before the entrance today. Catherine of Medici is the best known person for occupying the Castle and was responsible for adding the Gallery rooms over the water bridge in an effort to create her own Ponte Vecchio. The numerous castles in the Tours area formed an enthusiastic social scene and Catherine was known to be fair and generous to the local community. It’s thought that this might be why she was spared the fate of many of her contemporaries when the Revolution occurred. The Chateau is a popular attraction for tourists, with its unusual spanning of the River Cher, the important art collection, and the original tapestries and furniture throughout the castle. Looking out over the river, it also attracts some of the most inept canoe paddlers in France. In fact , it’s an international event that involves approaching the turrents under the castle sideways and scrapping along the walls in order to get through, or all three rowers paddling against each other, and just drifting aimlessly. The hire company must have high insurance premiums to cover this behaviour.

I thought I was being watched a bit too closely by my fellow travellers today, in the vegetable garden at Chenonceau Chateau. Yesterday, I was accused of stealing grapes. I could be sent to Van Diemen’s Land for life for that. I was admiring the vegetable garden at Villandry when I noticed a man and his wife, or accomplice in this case, and commented that the grapes that he was eating looked good. Before I knew it, I had a big bunch of grapes in my hand. Tim refused to eat the stolen grapes, Sue reluctantly had a few, but I tried to explain that I was merely a fence; receiving stolen goods, not a thief. Everyone knows they taste better if you nicked them, and they were delicious. Anyway, there were no grapes on offer today; I checked.

Château Clos Lucé , the final home for Leonardo da Vinci was our next point of call, and is in Amboise. The entrance fee of 18€ seemed a bit steep in comparison to the fee charged at substantial castles, so the idea was to enjoy the gardens and have a look at the house from the grounds. It’s not really a good display of his life’s work, so it would be good to just see it out of curiosity. However, the rules have changed since Tim was there 6 years ago, and a ticket is required for it all. We walked in confidently, straight past the ticket checker, a young boy who should have been in school, pretended to approach the ticket office, and then veered left towards the gardens. We were spotted. Feeling generous, the young lad allowed us to look at the house and gardens from where we stood, and that was Leonard’s house for us.

I must place a public safety warning in tonight too.

In Amboise, in fact, in the Tours region, there seems to be an interpretation of level crossing lines that are very similar to the town of Young in New South Wales, Australia, where my wife comes from - I’ve given the country just in case you ever visit there, you need to be aware of this - that involves cars stopping if they feel like it, or in the case of Young, never, when pedestrians approach. The white parallel lines are just a rough guide as to where you might like to chance your luck as you step onto the road. Older local have the right idea. They just look the other way and pretend there are no cars approaching. I even saw flowers taped to the post at a crossing in Amboise today. Someone’s luck had run out. Twice there were attempts on my life today, within a matter of minutes.
Be warned folks.

Also, watch out for Tour Groups of very old people. Today I was confronted by a very confused looking bunch of French tourists, although any nationality will do, who completely crowded the path crossing a busy bridge, while their flag holding guide described some important facts. I had to step out onto the road to pass them, incurring the wrath of angry cyclists, because I was in their lane. It was clear to me that some of these people, on learning they could take pictures with their phones, were confused because they couldn’t work out where you put the film in. They just stared at them. I‘m serious.

Well, tomorrow is a rest day. A day of wandering around Tours, visiting museums and shops, getting a feel for the town, and staying away from pedestrian crossings.

The nightclub downstairs, Le Doolittle Bar, is firing up, so it could be another noisy one. Still, as we walked through the throng of young people inhabiting all the bars and sidewalk tables as we walked back to our apartment, I said, “ I remember those days. What happened? “ Back then my only concern was which one of my mates could lend me some drinking money until payday. Now I barely have the energy to go up the 4 flights of stairs to our rooms. And I might not be too far off giving people the shits because I’m blocking their pathway across a bridge.

Where does it all end?
And where do you put the film in those iPhone thingys ?

---

Photos

The Kitchen
15th Century building, 21st century fitout

Old world detail
That beam would have to be 500mm square and we’re on the second floor. How did they get it up there?

Our bedroom
With the bunk above

The Guide
“ Everyone back on the bus !”

Poce Sur Cisse
Waterway at the rear of the Church

Chateau d’Amboise
Leonardo da Vinci is buried in this castle’s chapel

Pots and Pans.
The kitchen

Duke of Vendôme’s Bedroom
Son of HenryIV

The Chateau Pharmacy
Catherine de Medici’s pharmacist was Nostradamus.

Chenonceau Chateau Gallery
The Medici Gallery that spans the Cher River. It was used as a military hospital in WWI , and during WWII it was used to move refugees of the conflict from one side to another, as the French controlled the territory on one side while Hilter controlled the other side

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Retirement Villa.
From the age of 62, he lived out his life sketching, and making models of new inventions he created.

The Royal City of Amboise
Dug out houses are common along the steep rock walls

Bigot’s Patisserie,
A world famous chocolatier since 1913. We can give a first hand reference to this claim.