Le Mans, Solesmes Abbey, Amboise

Day 2: To Amboise, with detours


Choosing the quiet room is always the right decision.  We both slept well and woke up refreshed.  After breakfast at the hotel (pricey but worth it today), we rolled our bags to the garage, located our car, figured out how to pay (this is always harder than expected), and routed ourselves to Le Mans for the 24 hours of Le Mans museum.

Husband is truly a "car guy." He has watched this race on TV and read about it for years, so he liked everything he saw.  But I, too, found the museum, history, cars displayed, and seeing some cars race on the track very interesting.  We talked about coming back to see the race in person one day. 

There were many newer cars displayed but I neglected to take pictures of them, I don't know why.


We left the museum and went to the track.  It was a separate fee (I think 3euro) to look around and wait for the practice runs that started at 2pm.  The whole area was deserted.  We saw maybe 10 other people.  Then it started to rain.

Several cars practiced on the track

Under cover, out of the rain, watching the "race"

I liked watching the cars race. Especially when they lost control and spun out, or went up the little hill making tremendous noise. I can imagine the actual race is very exciting to see in person.

Another vantage point for the "race"

The cars were noisy on this uphill section

We left Le Mans and plugged in the address for Abbaye Solesmes into the GPS.  We still didn't have a map of the area because the two rest stops we'd been to didn't have the map we needed.  So the GPS did what it always does and routed us very circuitously to the Abbey.  It took a long time on very small roads.
But we arrived and found the mostly empty parking lot. The day was still overcast and drizzly.


Husband had seen this place described in the Michelin Green Guide.  He was intrigued by the Saints of Solesmes sculptures which date from 1496 to 1553.

Entrance to Solesmes Abbey

I took pictures of all the doors!  They were so perfect and beautiful.

We walked into the bookshop figuring we'd have to pay to enter the chapel but there was no fee.  The very kind and patient Benedictine monk explained about the abbey and showed us the books that talked more about it.  They had a video and displays all in French.

Through the courtyard we went to the Chapel. No photos allowed.  It was perfect.  It seemed holy and reverent.  Most tourists were appropriately quiet and respectful.  The Belle Chappelle of Notre-Dame is on the left (Sud).  It's all about the life of the Virgin Mary.  Incredibly detailed and beautiful works.  They were started in 1530 and finished in 1553. Across the aisle is the Tomb of Our Lord which was also incredibly beautiful.  It's dated 1496. Their website for details and photos:  http://www.solesmes.com/saints-solesmes

 

On the left as we exited the compound, I noticed a small door leading to the Parochial Church.  The organist was practicing, candles were lit, and a few people wandered in.  It was a lovely little church.

Entrance to parochial church

 Back to the car, stopping briefly to smell (and photograph) the roses, to make our way to Amboise. 

We arrived at La Grange Amboise in good time, checked in with Madame Yveline, did not choose the quiet room, and headed out to walk about this cute town and have dinner.  We really liked Amboise and the B&B in 2015 and were glad to be back for three nights.


It being a Sunday, many well rated restaurants were closed.  We decided on pizza at La Florentine because we knew we didn't like the pizza at Via Roma.  We sat at the tables on the sidewalk and this was when we first noticed the unintended consequence of banning cigarettes indoors--everyone outside was likely to light up and inundate us non-smokers with fumes.  We asked to be moved to a different table (the first one was in between two tables of smokers) and enjoyed our meal.

Lots of anchovies for husband

I reconfirmed my dislike of gorgonzola

After dinner, not ready to retire, we took a walk across the bridge to Le Shaker bar which had a great view of the nicely lit up castle.  The rain and the smokers pushed us inside but we enjoyed watching the locals and staff interact.

Drinks with a view of Amboise Castle

Our room at La Grange Amboise was fine except it was on the road and noisy with the window open so we only slept ok. We got a later start than planned the next day but still managed to see 2.25 chateaus.


Takeaways:
1.  Car museums can be interesting even for non-car people
2.  Solesmes Abbey was definitely worth the detour
3.  GPS is invaluable but boy does it route you on teeny roads
4.  We really like our road maps in conjunction with the GPS
5.  Develop a tolerance for smoke in your face if sitting on a patio, even at a restaurant
6.  Always choose the quiet room!


Next: 2.25 chateaus (Valencay, Chaumont-sur-Loire, Clos Luce).