Today we embarked on a mini-bus tour from Tours (pronounced 'tour') of four of the chateaux in the Loire Valley. There was me, Lindee, a woman from New Zealand called Karen and four young Asian women on the tour. As fellow Antipodeans Karen, Lindee and I were soon the best of mates. We started with a half-hour drive alongside the Loire River to the town of Amboise.
Chateau du Clos Luce
This chateau was built in 1471 on 12th century foundations. It is just 400 metres down the road from the Chateau Royal in Amboise. Leonardo da Vinci lived here for the last few years of his life. He was invited by Francois I to live in France at the Chateau Royal but he wanted to live somewhere quieter so he could concentrate on his work. So Francois I made his childhood home available to him and gave him an allowance of 700 gold ecus a year (apparently that was a lot of money) and all he had to do in return for all this was have a chat with the King most days. There was a secret underground passage between the two chateaux. It's still there although you can't use it and it's certainly not a secret anymore! This place was tiny by chateau standards but quite pretty. The gardens were wonderful. Scattered throughout the gardens were life-size models of da Vinci's inventions built based on his drawings using materials from the relevant time period. I was particularly keen to see the propeller (da Vinci's vision of what would essentially be the helicopter some 500 years later) so I was very pleased when I found it as the gardens are a bit of a rabbit warren.
Chateau Royal d'Amboise
The views over the Loire Valley from the terraces at this place were magnificent. There is a small chapel on the way to the Chateau entrance. It is dedicated to St Hubert - the patron saint of hunters - and has wooden antlers sticking out all over its spire! Leonardo da Vinci's tomb is located inside. I loved everything about this place, especially the Sentries' Walk (where the guards could keep a watch on the boats on the river below), the Noble Guardsmen's Room (where d'Artagnan stayed for a couple of weeks in 1661), the Cupbearers' Room (where drinks were served, I would like one of these rooms - and a cupbearer to go with it - in my house), the Council Chamber and the Music Room.
We then had time for lunch in Amboise. Lindee and I went to a place called Bigot which has existed for only 100 years. We both had the 'house special' - the Quiche aux Petits Legumes which was almost as good as Annie's Vegetable Quiche. They also made their own brand of chocolate here so we bought some of that to have for our afternoon tea.
