Castles, Cycling, Hiking on the Loire & Boule de Fort

Today we had a picnic with Alex & Florise near where they work on their lunch hour (they get 1 &  1/2 hours for lunch but no breaks during the day).   We sat in the sand on the banks of the Loire, watched the river roll by & enjoyed a very peaceful time.  After they headed back to work, we took a short hike on a trail that followed the river.

Picnicking on the Loire

Kate, do you see those birds?

Resting in the shade before turning around

Yesterday  we drove up river to Saumur where we rented bikes for a second time.  We rented them from Detours a la Loire, a bicycle rental company with multiple locations along the Loire (20 Euros for 2 bikes for 1/2 day including helmets, bike lock, & repair kit).  We road for an hour downstream, then stopped for a picnic lunch next to the river, before returning to Saumur.  The bike trail is clearly marked with signs & green arrows on the pavement.  It followed very low traffic roads or recreation trails open only to bikes & pedestrians.

Crossing pedestrian/cyclist bridge on the Loire a Velo bike trail

Kate coasting down a country lane west of Saumur

The Loire at Saumur

The castle above the town of Saumur

 On the way home, we drove through the village of Gee & noticed the door to a local Boule de Fort sporting club was open, so we stopped to have a look.  This sport is extremely popular in this region & club members invited us to give it a try.  The sport involves rolling a ball down a curved alley & trying to be the player who gets their boule closest to the white ball at the other end.  It doesn't look too hard, but it is!  One member offered to take photos of our attempts, then they asked us to join them for a glass of wine before we said "Au Revoir."  All this without any of them speaking English or us speaking French!

Notice the curved surface of the court in the Boule de Fort club house

Now let me catch you up on the end of last week.  We were in Amboise on the Loire.  On Thursday afternoon, we visited Le Clos Luce, the manor house where Leonardo Da Vinci spent the last years of his life.  The house was interesting but I was fascinated with the scale models of some of his inventions displayed in the basement museum & larger-size versions in the park surrounding the manor home.

Le Clos Luce, last home of Leonard Da Vinci, Amboise, France

 Afterwards, we checked into Hotel Le Blason in the old section of town.  Lonely Planet's France described the hotel as "quirky, creaky...with 25 rooms higgledy-piggledy...wedged around corridors:  most of tichy, flowery, timber-beamed."  This was an apt description.  When I took a shower in the morning in our tiny bathroom, it felt like I was taking a shower in a closet!  But our room was clean, comfortable, quiet & the windows opened to provide fresh air at night.  And the price was very reasonable.

Hotel Le Blason, Amboise

Heavy timbered ceiling in our room

Then Thursday evening, we visited Chenonceaux, a castle that spans the Cher River from one bank to the other.  Rick Steves suggests in his travel books to go early or late to popular tourist spots to avoid the crowds.  Well, we didn't arrive until 6 PM, and there were so few other tourists, we felt like we had the castle to ourselves!   I remember visiting this castle on my first trip to France in 1972 but I'd forgotten many of the details, so it was great to see it again & I was glad I had a good digital camera this time.   After visiting the castle, we wandered the formal gardens surrounding it; when we left, we were nearly the last persons to leave before the castle & grounds closed for the night.

Chateau Chenonceaux & Gardens

Chateau Chenonceaux spans the Cher River

On Friday in Amboise, we rented bicycles for the first time.  This was for a 2-hour, 18 km ride along the Loire (15 Euros for 2 bikes for 2 hours).  The highlight for Kate was cycling along a quiet village road past homes, hillside gardens & one home with a fabulous collection of colorful coffee pots on the garden wall.

Garden wall with teapots in village west of Amboise

The Loire a Velo cycle route is clearly marked all along the way

We enjoyed the Farmer's Market in Amboise at the end of our ride

Oh, and did I mention eating?  How could I forget?  Last night Florise's parents took us to dinner in Angers to a restaurant that specializes in souffles.  I had a triple cheese souffle while Kate had the vegetarian souffle.  For dessert we split a crepe covered with chocolate sauce & slivered almonds. Tonight we're invited to Florise's aunt & uncle's home for dinner.  I'm sure something special awaits.   Ahhh...French cooking...tres bien.

James & Kate with Alex, Florise, her parents & brother

James triple-cheese souffle

Our dessert crepe with chocolate sauce & almonds.  Voila!

No, we're not eating our way through France!

Blois, France:  no, we're not eating our way through France, but I just finished eating the most sumptuous meal I've ever had at Les Baquettes Rouges ("the red benches") in this old town on the Loire River...the roasted angle hair pasta on prawns was amazing.  But I digress.  Our primary purpose for coming to France was to visit Alex, get acquainted with Florise & meet their French family.  We spent a couple nights in Gee, at the community where  they live & will return at the end of this week to see them again & participate in a big family gathering.   While there, we stay in Alex &  Florise's yurt while they sleep in a travel trailer.  

Alex & Florise's compound

Alex took us for a walk along the quiet country road that fronts his home

Florise parents compound is called La Pinellerie or "The Pines"

Alex & Kate enjoying a simple lunch shortly after our arrival

The first night there, we had the most wonderful meal!  Nine of us were gathered around Florise parent's table & the squash soup with cream was to die for.  But I digress.

A delicious meal to welcome us to Florise's family

Exploring the ramparts of Chateau de Angers

Alex & Florise recently started jobs working in a nearby nursery.  Since they work M-F, we decided to explore the Loire River Valley this week & visit some castles.  We rented a Honda that's similar to our Fit so it's easy & economical to drive.  Kates's been a great navigator! We appreciate having our own "wheels" & independence.  We chose Blois because it's in the center of the Loire River Valley.  We're staying in tiny quaint hotel ("Cote Loire-Auberge Ligerienne") with just 7 rooms.  The hotel was built in the 16th century & is the oldest auberge in Blois.  Today we visited Chateau de Chamborg, probably the most "over the top" castle of many in the area.  Tomorrow we'll check out, then drive to Amboise where we'll visit Le Clos Luce, the manor house where Leonardo Da Vinci spent the last years of his life at the invitation Francois I, the king of France .  We may also visit Chenonceau, a castle that spans the Cher River & if the weather is sunny, we might rent bikes & go for a ride.

Before we left Gee, we took Alex & Florise to eat at a riverside restaurant where my salmon was delicious.  Alex enjoyed steak tartare.

Steak tartare

Along the Loire River

 And least you think we're just eating our way through France, we have enjoyed many picnic lunches on park benches as we travel, thought the French cheese, crusty baguettes, yougurt, & fresh fruit finished off with a pan au chocolat makes even an informal park bench picnic meal pretty special.

Picnic lunch on park bench along Loire River

We did spend 3 nights & 2 days in Paris but I'll try to describe that experience in a subsequent post.  Guess that's all for now.

Ready for our next adventure: France!

We're ready for our next adventure, this time a 4-week trip to France.  Our bags are packed & sitting in our living room ready for the trip to the airport in the morning.  We're excited to see our son, Alex, who's been living in France since January.  And to see our new daughter-in-law, Florise, and meet her family!  Tomorrow we fly from PDX to Denver, change planes for a flight to Iceland, change planes a 2nd time to our final destination, Paris, the City of Light.  We expect to arrive early Thursday afternoon.  After clearing customs & immigration, we'll locate the Paris Transit Authority's Roissybus.  The bus takes 45-60+ minutes to get into Paris, depending on traffic.  We'll get off at the Opera National de Paris stop, then locate the Paris Metro, Line 1.  We'll take the Metro to the 2nd stop from the end (Porte de Vincennes).  From there it's a short 300 meter walk to our Bed & Breakfast.  Expect we won't arrive at the B&B until 4-5 PM & am sure we'll be beat.  Hope it doesn't take our internal body clocks too long to adjust to the time change.   Well, that's all for now.  Hopefully my next post will be from the City of Light!