France - Week 5

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This is the fifth and final ‘episode’ in another of 'our' travel experiences.

The collective ‘episodes’ describe our journey from our arrival in Paris, France (from the 2nd week of May) and our journey to Floriade (Holland), then the remainder journey through northern and western France. In this part (week #5), we describe our journey From Brittany, up the Loire Valley and back to Paris.



As always, if you want to 'see' more detail in an accompanying picture, click it to enlarge.



We've attached a few pics that give you a flavour of our journey, and some 'flow over' past the dialogue. You may need to manually go to the next page to see them.

Saturday 9th - Liore Valley.

As we concluded in the last 'episode', we had a great breakfast with the owners of the gite (gite = self catering accommodation) we rented for the night. Being wine farmers, on our departure we were taken by them to visit an antique still some locals were using to make Brandy. It was a relic of the past, and for us the 'brandy' tasted like rocket fuel.

The day started lightly cloudly, it was the cold chilly wind that grabbed our attention. We decided to head further up the Loire River valley, and generally ventured along the south bank to villages such as Champtoceaux and St Florent sur Loire. Most of these villages are built on the higher ground, generally overlooking the Loire river. Where especially high, either a chateaux or abbey holds pride of place.

This area begins the middle section of the Loire River valley - a length of about 300km from Angers to Orleans - which is said to be the 'cradle of French language' and the 'garden of France, but is now more well known in tourism parle as the 'land of a thousand castles'. This section of the Loire River valley was the favorite residence of successive Kings of France during the Renaissance period. The kings surrounded themselves with the great artists and architects of this era. And, so began the fascination for building monstrous 'McChateaux' to outdo each other. Already comprising so many medieval castles and fortresses (12th to 15th century), the 16th + 17th century renaissance added countless royal castles and palaces, large magnificent chateaux (ie. palaces of the sycophants), large and small 'fairy tale' manors, and of course the numerous abbeys. All but the abbey buildings are now referred to merely as chateau; perhaps a revolutionary term to delete royalty from their symbolic association to power.

One outcome of the French revolution of 1789 was that the 'revolutionaries' not only overthrew the royalty (and their sycophants), but also banned monastic endeavours. The interiors of many chateau and abbey's were also significantly destroyed. As a consequence, many fell into disrepair. The larger chateuax have generally been rstored by the French gov't, or by wealthy owners, but the abbey buildings have not been so fortunate. Where an Abbey cathedral became a local practicing church, then the decay has been slowed. But, with few sheckles in the plate each week, most Abbey buildings are in need of much maintenance. Even though the Loire is a very fertile region, the Abbey buildings have ceetainly lost the appeal they once may have displayed. Not so the chateaux. These attract tourists like moths to a light. Busloads pour in each day.

Before reaching Angers, we decided to by-pass the city and instead deviate into the wine growing hills and dales. Despite being intensively cultivated, we still found large sections of the Liore River to be heavily forested. As the cloud had gotten heavier, the day became quite gloomy. nevertheless, the scenery was still fascinatingly pretty. We 'returned' to the Loire River road at Geddes and chose to stay the night a bit further on at Saumer. On entry the B+B appeared in need of care, the lawns were unmowed, and the many rose bushes lining the long driveway could have done with a light prune to remove the first flush of flowers. We wondered what we were entering! It turned out to be quite OK, and we later discovered the male owner is an unabashed romantic and a gardener (which partly explained the seemingly parlous state of the gardens). Even so, he suggested a great French restaurant for which we were appreciative.

Sunday 10th - Chinon.

The B+B room was seperate to the actual house, and on opening the door in the am to walk to the house for breakfast, we noticed the owner had strewn the pathway with rose petals. Not just a few, but heaps. We followed the rose petals to the house to be greeted by the (male) owner effusively inquiring as to our quality of rest. His very French flavoured English was, to one pair of ears, quite romantic. With this ambience, we didn't feel disposed to tell him the sleep was not too good. He ushered us to a grand table, where the setting for both of us was 'pictured' in freshly picked roses. He took great pride to tell Judy the name of each rose, when he had planted it in the garden, and how the colour of each rose matched some part of her face or hair. We were then served a large round vase type bowl with a layer of cereal, a layer of very light cream cheese, a layer of chopped fresh strawberries, and a layer of rose petals. Judy was melting, for once Bruce thought it best to be silent.

During Breakfast it began to rain. Our host suggested we need not rush to depart our room as he had no booking for that evening. We appreciated the offer and spent the rest of the morning doing chores and catching up on our notes. We left about 2pm and only drove some 25km up the road to Chinon.

We initially stopped at Chinon to get a departmental map and find out which tourist offices were open futher along the valey. On a sunday, most of France closes and only a few tourist offices are open and many only till 4pm.. Our all of France map didn't have enough detail. We found the Tourist offices (generally) had quite detailed maps of the 'department' - a specific locality within a province. For example, the Loire River province has many departments and each department has a map specific to the area of that department. In truly French style, one could only get a department map from a tourist office in that department. In one case, we even went to one tourist office located about 1 kilometre from the boundary of the next department and they didn't have a map for the next department.

On entering the centre of Chinon (every centre is called Centreville), we were struck by the beauty. It was unlike any town we'd previously entered. Within an instant, we decided to stay here for the night. So, not only did we get a map, we also booked a B+B.

The B+B was not available till after 5pm (a common situation), and so we parked the car and explored the area. On the high upper banks was the remains of the Castle Fort. The lower area comprised the town the eons ago services the castle fortress. The narrow cobbled streets, the trees, and the town square were dotted with medieval and renaissance buildings. The sky looked black and threatening so we quickly found a cafe for a beer. Once the storm had passed, we continued our wanderings. We'd early seen some band members hanging around. We now heard the sounds of a band so headed in that direction. We came a cross a 12 piece band, dressed in a blue uniform with weirdly large hats. A wind and percussion band, the members were not only playing their instruments but also trying to gain the attention of onlookers. Light rain started to fall and the band began to move down a street. But, in so doing, they were using music and antics to entice people to follow them - pied piper like. We did and were so glad. The rain began to increase, as did the speed of the band music and the speed of their 'march; forwards. Eventually we reached a large covered tent. Both the band and the onlookers ducked into the cover. But, inside there was already another band and their onlookers. The band we were following lined up in front of the other band, and using their instruments began bleating at them. As it transpired, this was no accident. Nevertheless, the two bands spent the next 10 minutes challenging each other to determine the 'better'. The music was loud and raucous, and the gesticulations made for much hilarity. After a while, the 2 bands joined together and treated all to some great music.

The music ended so we went and settled into the B+B. After a few beers, we found a great restaurant. For us, the food of this restaurant was the best of our travels. The atmosphere was also most appealing.

Monday 11th - Chateaux 'oggling'.

Today was our 'day' for chateaux + abbey 'touring'. First we visited Abbey de Fontrevaud, then Chateau D'Usse, followed by Chateau Azay-Le-Rideau and finally Chateau Chenonceau.

The Abbey was one of the largest in Europe, and had been in continuous use for over 700 years till taken over by the French government at the 1789 revolution. So large was the complex that the government found it useful as a prison. The damage done by the prison authorites was wonton and can't be condoned. Nevertheless, the work done recently to remove the vestages of the prison structure and return the structure to a semblance of its former glory is welcomed. Without drawings to refurbish the buildings to even close to their original state, decisions about presentation had to be made. Rather than attempt some recreation of what the interior may have been like, the decision made was to present the buildings in their simple skins, That is, unadorned. With this simplicity is a wonderfully spiritual presence. We greatly appreciated our time here.

In contrast, it is the chateaux that attract the tourist crowds. We chose not to enter the chateaux buildings, neither crowds nor a carnival of antiques attracts our interest. Instead we admired thw buildings from outside and walked the wonderful gardens. As we've noted before, how the rich lived (and taxed).

We stayed at a B+B near Blere at Civray de Tourine which is close to the regional city of Tours. Also at the B+B were an Australian couple, the first we'd met on our journey. We did appreciate a yarn and a laugh in the Australian idiom.

Tuesday 12th - More 'oggling'.

As noted above, there are countless chateaux in the region. A brochure we picked up detiling the 'best' chateaux listed 65! There are many others equally as good not on the list.

We drove to neaby Amboise to view the Chateau Royal D'Amboise - one of two 'centrepieces' for chateau tourists. We also went to the other 'centrepiece' of the area, the Chateau Royal De Chambord. Both were used by various kings as 'royal' castles. The former was the preferred. Sitting high on a cliff overlooking the Loire River, it certainly has a presence. The latter is monumental in scale, and was used by the king for a total of only 79 days; apparently it was too draughty. Given the size and number of rooms, any wonder. But, the cost, and the waste. As Judy said, the money could well have been used by the people to live better lives. No wonder the French citizens eventually had enough and got rid of the monarchic system and their follies.

We continued moving up the Loire Valley, dropping in on Blois, which provided us with a most wonderful cake with coffee, a pistachio and rasberry delight. We cruised through some wonderful forests and finished the day at Autry-Le-Chatel near the Loire River town of Gien.

Wednesday 13th - to Fontainebleau.

Today we had to cover some distance to get close to Paris. We'd heard about a steel bridge taking canal traffic over the Loire River at Briare, so went and had a look. In the days when the canal was the distribution 'highway', France invested heavily in canals. They enabled cities across France to join the industrial age by way of manufacturing goods for commercial use. And, they made coal and grain distribution far easier. Many thousands of kilometres were built using lock systems to address topographical height variations. Where a canal met a tiver, the canal traffic would - via locks - descend to and from the river. In the case of the Loire, experience showed that the variation of river height coupled to the variability of flow over the seasons created difficulties for the shallow bottomed canal boats. The 'solution' was to construct the canal over the Loire using a bridge. At the time of construction in 1893 the best design was styled on the inverse of a ship's structure. A cast iron bridge held a steel plate 'bath' rivetted together to retain the water. Ingenious, and still in use today.

We made our way out of the Loire River valley and headed for Burgundy before entering the Isle De Paris region. Once out of the patchwork farmland and heavily wooded Loire River valley, the rolling hills of Burgandy revealed a landscape of largescale cereal cropping. Just over the hill and so quite different. We still had some cheeses and cured sausage in our cooler bag so we grabbed a bottle of unpastuerised, naturally fermented beer and, in lovely sunshine found a roadside stop near Senan to seat ourselves amongst the wildflowers and consume lunch. As well as beer, we'd also bought a couple of Paris Brest cakes (a large profiterole filled with the lightest almond flavoured cream). We thought, 'that's so indulgence', but we didn't care. We'll work off the calories next week after we get home!

We eventually got to Fontainebleau and secured a B+B.

Thursday 14th - THE castle and Paris.

We had wanted to visit Fontainebleau when we were in Paris, but the weather on the day we allocated was lousy. After visiting the various castles in the Loire River valley, we decided to check it out on our way back to Paris. Because the interiors of so many castles had been refurbished in recent years to address damage done over the past 200 years, few can be said to be original - though some have original elements. Fontainebleau is exceptional in that the building - both inside and out - is as it was at the revolution. While Versailles was the 'official' residence of successive kings, Fontaineblue was, in effect, their holiday home. And, did they spend big to ensure this pile of bricks was appropriate for their enjoyment. One wing with incredibly elaborate decorations was built by King Henry 4th - apparently an ancestor of Bruce's (on the maternal or Forsaith side).

An attribute we found amusing is that while Versailles was the formal palace (in all senses of the word), Fontainebleau was where several kings took their mistresses. We learned that several rooms were fitted out for the mistress of this or that king. It appears the queen had her chambers and attended functions with the king but he dallied without her. Having seen various palaces over the years, this was interesting for the originality. However, we were especially impressed with some of the intimate gardens.

We'd prebooked accommodation at Orly Airport as that was where we'd originally been going to depart - and couldn't change the accommodation as the firm had no presence at CDG. We used the opportunity to clean out the car and prapare our luggage after several weeks of holidaying. We found a restaurant nearby and both had casseroles - something we'd assumed would be more available if France - and both were wonderfully enjoyable.

Friday 15th - to KL.

We'd been told that the freeway system in Paris is over capacity and one traffic incident can cause chaos. The time from Orly to CDG was said to be about 45 minutes. It took us over an hour and a half. We'd anticipated that possibility and arrived at CDG wirh sufficient time. After getting our boarding passes, we were shunted out of the departure lounge area. The police and army decided an unattended bag was a potential bomb threat. Fortunately, Malaysian Airlines delayed departure.

Reflections.

Here, we express our overall sentiments about our journey. The details of our journey are contained in the various previous weekly contributions.

Overall, we had a great time in France. As always, we found more to like in the rural areas than the urban. While cosmopolitan Paris is a buzz, and allows one to understand the complexity of the term 'chic', there is something endearing about the rural. Or, at least the rural we encountered. Oft we heard the rural south of France is different to the north; 'colder climate, warmer heart' we were told. While not experiencing the south, we wouldn't contest the view of the northern people we encountered.

We saw a fair bit of France, largely in areas away from the tourist centres. Perhaps it was because of this that we met so many wonderfully kind French people. We also appreciated the support given us by the staff at most tourist information centres. On this, Australia could learn heaps. In a similar vein, we appreciated the well priced accommodation. B+B's in France are about half the price of the Australian offerings. But, to be fair, Australian B+B's have largely catered to the upmarket customer. Given this, there appears a great opportunity for Australian tourism to foster growth in the 'value' B+B sector.

The difficulties? We failed to 'decode' the French road direction signs. All too often we'd be tootling along with signs showing our way, then for whatever reason, the towns previously cited would disappear. To explain, on rural (non freeway) roads, every cross road is a round-a-bout. And, each road off the round-a-bout would have a sign to destinations. Once leaving a city, the sign would show the next major city. Some distance away, the signposting would drop the major city sign and instead show a big town. But, for whatever reason, at times the signge would show the next village (usually absent on our map). Similarly, in a city, the signs may revert to suburbs rather than the next city. This caused us considerable frustration. That said, the French drivers were both patient and courtious. Sure, in the cities they were in a hurry. But, there was never any hint of the road rage so endemic in Oz.
The only other negative was the weather. Everyone was telling us the rain and cold was very unseasonal. We weren't impressed either. But, at least it kept the wildflowers blooming. On that note, we loved the colour that the the wildflowers presented. And, as we'd earlier written, the flower plantings by householders made for so much pleasantness.

Clearly, French food has a well deserved reputation. If there was to be any criticism, it is that some main course dishes are overly prepared (ie. too much complexity). The simplicity and lightness of Asian cooking has fused into the Australian style, but not French food. And, unlike Australia, vegetbales are only a minor aspect of French cuisine. When first visiting a supermarket, we both commented on the very small section given over to fruit and vegetables. But, the prepared fresh meat dinners, potted and cured meats, the cheeses, the chewy breads, the amazingly tasting fresh berries, and the cakes. Ooh La La! And, of course, we loved the great beers. We were also very pleasantly surprised at the quality and price of the wines. For about A$5, we could buy a red of a quality that if matched to an Australian wine would cost about $12-14 in Oz. While we will miss all these, our waistlines will not. Perhaps the one thing we will really miss most is the water. All the tap water we drank was so incredibly soft, with a natural sweetness, and so devoid of any hint of a chemical taste.

Cheers

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