The Loire Valley: Unfinished business

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Like everything in life all good things must come to an end. And so it was with our stay in Poitiers. It is almost the end of our European adventure. We are into the last week of our drive and soon we will be saying good bye to our faithful travelling companion, Peugeot 207SW, and not so faithful Miss GPS. But we have a few final paragraphs to add to our French chapter.
After leaving Poitiers we headed for Tours and the start of our drive along the Loire River valley towards Orleans. It didn’t take us long to realise that this short trip cannot be covered in a day. The history, the beauty of the countryside and the many interesting villages deserve more than a cursory visit.
Tours has a wonderful cathedral that is in the process of undergoing a massive clean and restoration. The part that has already been completed gives an idea of what to expect in a few years time. Driving along the Loire we could see chateau after chateau. But the chateau that stood out was in Amboise. It was truly magnificent. Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years in this town and we understand his house is now a museum with models of all his inventions. Perhaps these are the same models that toured New Zealand a few years ago. The sight of towers and spires that greeted us as we approached Blois was memorable and worth stopping for. As we continued our journey we entered the town of Menars. There, tucked away behind a large spiked fence and many decorative trees, was a special Chateau. It was once the home of Madame Pompadour, a former mistress of King Louis XV.
An unfortunate blot in the midst of all this amazing scenery startled us when we drove over the brow of a small hill and there before us was a nuclear power plant in full production. Standing in its shadow are the villages of Avaray and Lestiou. We know the demands of modern living require necessities such as electric power but in an area of such beauty and so close to people living their lives, we begin to question the wisdom of location and method.
Our final destination today was Olivet, a town just over the Loire River from Orleans. It was obvious from quite early on that we would not get a chance to properly see everything we wanted to see in this area. So today was an exploratory trip with a view to the future. This area deserves a stay of far more than a night. And so we leave the Loire with high expectations that we will be back, and next time will spend much more time soaking up the loveliness of this area. Tomorrow we continue towards Paris with a stop in a small village near Chartres.

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