Chateaux de la Loire Part 1

Day 3: 2.25 chateaux (Valencay, Chaumont-sur-Loire, Clos Luce).


After a good breakfast at La Grange Amboise in the company of a couple from Australia (who sat next to each other, side by side, at the communal table, instead of across from each other, so we were facing total strangers first thing in the morning) we headed out to visit our first chateaux of 2017.


In 2015, we visited Chenonceau, Cheverny, Chambord, Blois, and Amboise.  So this year the plan was to hit Valencay, Chaumont-sur-Loire, Clos Luce, Azay-le-Rideau, Villandry, and Langeais. 


We started with Valencay.  It was about an hour's drive from Amboise.  The weather was generally great. 


Valencay started in the 1540's and became the home of Tallyrand, the foreign minister for Napoleon, and his heirs. Before him, it belonged to the d'Estampes family of financiers.  The exterior was lovely.  It stands high above the Nahon river and the views were great.  I'm sure the grounds are even nicer when everything is blooming.  I didn't get a good picture of the front because the sun was in our eyes.  Husband was enthralled by the roofing work being done on one of the turrets.  By time we left, 2 or so hours later, most of it was complete!

I was more impressed by the exterior than the interior, which seemed a bit run down.  The Tallyrand rooms were on display and the included audio guide helped flesh out his interesting life at the chateau.  The story about his chef, Careme, who invented the chef hat and other cheffy things, was fascinating.

This was a guest room. I wanted to move in!

Door to the cellar

It was a beautiful day and the chateau just gleamed in the warm sunshine. 



We left the chateau and walked into the town, which was remarkably quiet, looking for lunch.  We figured every one was having a siesta. But it was probably because it was a Monday and slightly off season.  We ended up at Creperie Bretonne Le Biniou.  We very much enjoyed our crepes and cider.

Next up was Chaumont-sur-Loire. It was started in the 10th century by Odo, the Count of Blois.  But it was burned down in 1455 by Louis XI and rebuilt a decade later.  It passed through lots of hands, including those of Catherine de Medici, who bought it in 1560, after Henry II died.  She forced his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, to give up Chenonceau for Chaumont. In 1875, it was bought by sugar heiress, Marie-Charlotte Say. She and her husband build the stables and had the chateau restored. She donated the chateau to the government in 1938. 


Chaumont has extensive, beautiful gardens and grounds.  It sits above the Loire and has glorious views.  We both really liked this chauteau a lot.

We're so bad at selfies

There was some sort of modern art exhibition going on but it didn't take away from the chateau except in the chapel.

Chapel with "art" installation

The interior rooms were pretty and fresh.

Catherine de Medici's room

The inner courtyard

 I'm slightly obsessed with doors.

We wandered the beautiful grounds then and made our way to the stables.  The horses and carriages really had it good!

Fleur de lis detail on stables gate

The good life!

We walked through more gardens.  Everywhere I looked were interesting plants, flowers, trees, paths.  Wonderful.

Me, on Saturday! :)

It was still early so we decided to hit Clos Luce back in Amboise.  It didn't close until 6pm so we'd have a good hour or so to tour it.


We got there, parked down the street, walked in, and changed our minds. It was so expensive: 15 euro per person.  We couldn't see how it was worth that.  Plus, what I really wanted to see were the DaVinci toys in the gardens.  Too bad they didn't have a ticket just for the grounds.


We got back in the car, parked at the B&B, and went looking for a drink.  We found our spot at Café des Arts.  We sat on the patio (dodging the smoke), people watching, enjoying our beer and sparkling wine, and gazing up at the walls of Chateau Amboise.  Perfect! 


The bartender lectured us about sparkling wine vs. champagne when husband ordered my first bubbly.  He didn't really understand that for most Americans, champagne is like Kleenex or bandaids, i.e., the name we call the thing even if it's not of that brand.  He was very passionate on the subject! 

Delicious sparkling wine  (NOT Champagne)!

For dinner, I convinced husband to go back to La Florentine where he got lasagna and I had pizza again.  It was pretty good food and good service.  We sat inside this time.

Pretty good lasagna

No gorgonzola this time

We topped off the evening with ice cream from Amorino, from the same surly attendant we remembered from 2015.  We ate it on the way back to our B&B for the night.


Takeaways:
1.  Amboise makes a good base to visit lots of chateaux
2.  Driving in the Loire valley is easy, especially with a GPS + map
3.  September must be low season--nowhere was crowded
4.  If you and a partner are at a communal table at a B&B, do sit across from each other.  It was very disconcerting to sit across from strangers at breakfast.
5.  Bubbly is sparkling wine, not champagne, unless it's from the champagne region.  You're welcome ;)


Next: More chateaux (Azay-le-Rideau, Villandry, Langeais)