Slept in a bit this morning after a late-ish night. We stay in Hotel Diderot for 2 nights, so don’t have to pack up this morning…woohoo!
Special breakfast at the motel. Our host Lauren has prepared fresh goats cheese with walnuts and honey for our toast. He has also provided a cornucopia of conserves…strawberry, strawberry with rhubarb, strawberry with vanilla, apricot, dried apricot, pear, peach with Angelica, marmalade, raspberry, banana, fig, raisins with rhubarb and many others..I think there is about 50 in all! I don’t think that I will be able to try all of them before we have to go!
We finished breakfast and were on the move at 9am. First stop, photo shoot at the castle that Sleeping Beauty is based on…chateau d’Ussé. It was built in the 15 & 16th centuries and was the inspiration for many later castles built in the same style along with the Walt Disney productions. Nick says that Charles Perrault was more of a collector of stories than the originator of them. He says that it is thought that Sleeping Beauty is a sanitised version of a tale from the 1300s where the prince is less than gallant and had his way with the sleeping princess after which she had twins while still in the coma. The babies were trying to suckle, but were having trouble! Somehow her finger was pricked and she woke up. Much more believable than the fairy tale!
After the photo stop, we drove on to Chateaux Villandry, which was built in around 1536, the last of the chateaux built along the Loire during the Renaissance. It was built on the site of a previous fortress built in 12th century, but little remains from that building but the foundations and the keep. On the ground floor, in the study on the ground floor of the keep is where the Treaty of Colombières was signed in 1189 between Henry II of England and Phillip Augustus, King of France. Each room is sparsely furnished. The beds are very small reflecting the small stature of people at that time. There is a spiral staircase up to the roof, overlooking the estate -the stairs are all lower in the middle than the outside and makes for an uncomfortable trip both up and down. There is one notation where an important person from one of the Asian countries wanted to marry the youngest daughter of the family and gave them a picture and a traditional tunic as a symbol of the agreement. The tunic would fit a 6 year old these days.
The most notable feature is the extensive gardens. There is 6 hectares, some is planted in very formal style, there is a herb garden and also a vege garden. There is also a large pond and a moat around the chateau…it is a beautiful chateau!
From one of the newest chateaux, we then went to one of the oldest, remodelled to the Renaissance style in 1510, Château of Azay-Le-Rideau. While the grounds were remodelled and are full of mature trees, it is the interior that is more interesting…along with the lovely moat where reflections of the building double the impact of the building.
The furnishings in the the building were quite sumptuous, with sisal wall coverings in some rooms, tapestries on many walls, wallpaper, velvet curtains and pelmets, water into the kitchen, a billiard table, huge fireplaces, paintings and carvings and beautiful cabinets and chaises. This château is also surrounded by a most!
In the late afternoon, some of the group went off for wine tasting….we went to Chinon fort. This is undergoing substantial renovation so was not at its best. There are inflated dragons around he building! At this time, I would suggest that it does not represent good value for the entry fee.
We walked from the fort through the old town. There were a few half timbered buildings, some of which were too symmetrical to be authentic! After relaxing in our room for a while, we walked around the town looking for a dinner restaurant, but they all. said to come back after 7pm as they don’t start serving until then. The hotel down the road took pity on us and served the meal 15 minutes early. The meal was quite delicious,,,boeuf terrine, duck with mashed potato as mains & choc cake for me and a rhubarb pastry for Tom for dessert.
Back to the motel fr an early night…it has been a long day!
 bientôt!
PS
Forgot to mention a surprise stop….a short stop at Eglise St Martin. In a little church some friezes were discovered in 2009 during renovations. They were drafted in 12th century and redrafted in 13&14th centuries. There are a series of 3…cartoon like! First one is about creation, 2nd is about death and salvation and the third shows the temptation of Christ on earth. There are also calendar month images and another couple about Cain & Abel and perhaps about revelations. Not as gory as the one we saw at Allermans.
6weeksinfrance 