The weather has been beautiful, and we have overdosed on chateaux. We drove only eleven miles to a campground just ouside Cherveny and stayed two nights, where free wifi connections (the first ever), laundry and two bike rides to two chateaux kept us as busy as we wanted to be.
The first was the large Cherverny estate that had been lived in until about fifteen years ago. The most interesting part was the dog kennel with 75+ nearly identical looking, well trained hunting dogs waiting to be fed. The second, at Troussay, was a small family chateau that has been sold only twice since it was built in the 1400’s and still has someone living in the upstairs apartments. We have decided the smaller places are much more livable. The larger ones show only the grand restored rooms--not the kitchens or the servant quarters where the real work was done.
Then it was off to Amboise and one final chateau (final for us, but not for the region--there are more than fifty in the Loire River valley). In addition, though, this town boasts having been the home of Leonardo de Vinci for the last three years of his life. (He was invited by the French king, rather like an aging baseball star who plays out his final years with the Yankees at an inflated salary). He is said to be buried in the tiny Chapelle St-Hubert within the walls of the chateau with the best view of the city and river valley.
His home, up a narrow steep road from the chateau, is a tourist attraction, made even more special by the creation (thanks to IBM) of working models of machinery that he had drawn but never actually fabricated. It is one fabulous physics and engineering lesson, and the groups of school kids loved it, especially the war tank. We walked through his home: kitchen, studio, even the bedrom where he died in 1519 - 490 years ago. Much of it is still the original. It was very well done. The house is surrounded by large gardens and ponds, and some of the larger “machine” displays were incorporated into the environment there.
The Chateaux Royal d’Amboise is quite imposing from the river side, but not nearly as ornate as some of the others. Besides the little chapel, it has a unique circular ramp, housed within a turret, wide enough to bring carriages and horses to the upper levels. And one of the huge fireplaces actually had a burning fire in it. We stayed in a campground on an island in the midde of the River Loire, and at night we walked back into the city for an excellent four-course dinner (that’s at least two, sometimes three, more courses than we’re used to). We both had the duck.
We are glad to be here in “low” season. The campgrounds are not crowded, and we do not have to stand in line for anything. The one time I did call ahead to make a reservation I was told, “Oh, just come.” We haven’t bothered calling since. Because we have had our fill of chateaux, we headed south on Friday and put 168 miles on Rover, going to Aubusson, a little town noted for its tapestry museum and workshops. (It was an easy trip: no pedestrians clipped by our mirrors going through narrow village streets, only one 'U-turn: we're going the wrong way,' and two complete circuits of traffic circles while we tried to read the road signs).
We were the only ones in the municipal campground at Aubusson when we arrived but have been joined by two others. And it has started to rain. And the stream that runs through the campground has a flash flood warning sign. And the Twins have lost two to the Red Sox.
On the other hand, yesterday we paid only $5.94/gallon for gas.