France 3 - Fontevraud l'Abbaye / Chambord and a masterpiece of chimneys and the tomb of Richard

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Morning broke as it always does in France, bright clear and quiet. We were on our way home and work was beckoning next week. We work early and ate our breakfast in the local Campanile pondering on what we planned to do over the next few days. We were trying to make the most of what was left of our short break before returning to the toil and hinderence of work. There was so much to see and sometimes it is hard to make a decision. Much depends on taste and time. It is easy to fill a fortnight up with places to see and things to do and then to realise there is so much more left that you could have taken the time to see. . We knew we were going to drive up and down the Loire and would take in whatever took our fancy. We had no real plans and these are the sort of holidays I like.

Our first stop was the lovely chateau at Chambord, easily recognised as the archetypal French chateau . Although the building was never completed it is nevertheless very impressive with its 16^th century layout of bastion towers, filled in moat and keep. It looks complete but apparently was never completed. A hunting lodge and place to hide away a mistress or two. And what a place to be hidden set in 13,000 acres of parkland away from prying eyes. The facade is 128 metres long, there are more than 800 sculptured columns but the piece de restistance is the roofline which resembles a small town with its spires, its turrets and its detail.

The inside is no less spectacular than the exterior, white marble gleaming in the spring sun. We climbed up to the roof and the chimneys provided a maze in which to lose yourself. The landscape gardens below were laid predominently to grass as far as the eye could see. The arrow straight paths drawing the eye to the far distance. Not gardens to my taste - I prefer Gertrude Jekyll cottage style riotous planting and this was too green and plain.

Our second chateau was Chenonceau an exceptional site much prettier than Chambord . It has a very original design with a rich collection of furniture and decorations, unusual for french chateaux.. It was lived in and loved women which perhaps gave it its original features.

The castle has an exceptional collection of paintings and rare Flanders tapestries giving the chateau a warm lived in and luxurious feel. It sits on piers built into the River Cher which gives an extradordinary romantic look and feel to the building.

Outside was not a disappointment with climbing roses, orange trees and flower gardens full of cutting flowers. A beautiful garden which would look lovely at every season,

Our last visit of historical interest in this part of our journey was to L'Abbaye at Fontevraud. Founded in 1100 the buidling has been much restored recently. It looked pristine white when we visited having had a deep clean of its stone work. It had housed the tombs King Henry II of England,his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their son King Richard I of England (the Lionheart), their daughter Joan, their grandson Raymond VII of Toulouse and finally Isabella of Angouleme. Characters I had read much about in the 1970's in Jean Plaidy stories. The tombs which are shown are actually empty having been moved on a number of occaisions. The actual site of the bodies is known but much was destroyed during the Revolution and the place is kept secret cynically it is said as it would decrease tourism to the abbey if the exact location was known and excavated.

On our way north we also visited the hunting museum at Gien. Definately not to everyones taste but if you enjoy hunting and put it into perspective it is a different type of museum to visit. It houses trophies of every type hung on the walls, painted hunting scenes and panels, dog collars, guns and tapestries.

Highlights of this part of the trip - the food in parts - one night a Morrocan influenced meal tasting of spices and curry, another sitting on a wall eating fromage and ham paninis with a bottle of coke. The self cleaning toilet - as you stood up the seat revolved and a jet of water cleaned it whilst hot air dried it off after the cleaning process had been completed.

On the other hand the lowlight - the worse toilets in france in Gien, the smell gave a clue that they had not been cleaned for some while, you needed wellington boots to wade through the wet and muck and I have to say its about time the french moved from Turkish toilets in favour of English type ones and in Gien to employ someone to clean them out.

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Photos

Chambord
Chimneys - roofscape