Voila Loire!
We farewelled Roselyn and Dominique this morning and they waved us off with the promise we would all keep in touch. Though it had started to drizzle, we decided to drive to Bordeaux and hope the weather might clear. Unfortunately, the rain set-in and we shared the soggy highway with a multitude of trucks, splashing along beside us. We found a parking spot on the side of the road but the pay machine wouldn’t cooperate and we both got a tad wet while it continued to refuse to accept our card. We took a risk and a photo of the dud machine and padded our way through puddles towards the big end of town.
Bordeaux is a sizeable city and can more than hold its own when it comes to massive, impressive limestone buildings. It was a hectic walk towards the centre ville - motorbikes, pushbikes, scooters, delivery trucks unloading, people darting all over the place. It wasn’t until we got to the pedestrian mall area, that things started to calm down. There was colourful bunting in the streets, a castle down every alleyway and all the big fancy shops you’d expect to see in the high street of a thriving city. The grand theatre with roof-top statues presided over a big paved square with a merry-go-round, amazing sculptures and a magnificent hotel. We opted for a quick browse through the shops to keep out of the rain and then we had a mandatory coffee in order to utilise the little boys’ room (that was for Ross, not me, just in case you were wondering).
Once we’d had a good look around, we exited through the turreted city gate and settled in for a couple of hours’ drive. Ross, an expert now on the right-hand side of the road, did a stellar job negotiating backwards roundabouts, overtaking slow trucks and keeping the pace on the speedy highways. We are always faced with a dilemma when approaching a toll gate, trying to remember whether it’s time to grab a ticket or time to grab a credit card. The first time you venture onto the tollway, you grab a ticket and then when you get to the next set of toll gates, you tap your card and pay up. Sometimes the toll roads are so long, it’s hard to remember what you’re up to and once or twice Ross has tried and shove a credit card into the ticket slot, or vice versa. The toll road today was a pretty long one and we were shocked to tap the card and have the machine spit out a 30 euro receipt!
As we approached the Loire Valley, past fields and farms and ancient looking farmhouses, the rain had eased enough for me to leave my raincoat in the car when we arrived at the majestic Château de Chenonceau. This fairytale-esque castle was first built between 1513 and 1521 by a wealthy financier by the name of Thomas Bohier. Tom and his wife Catherine decked it out with tapestries, statues and fancy furnishings - many of which are still in the castle after all these years. Antique Roadshow would have a field day here! The castle has had some extensive renos over the centuries, adding bridges, extra rooms and hallways and this grand residence has been home to royalty and the who’s who of French high society.
When King Henri II of France, died in 1559, in a “famous jousting accident”, the chateau was bequeathed to his wife, Catherine d’Medici (after a bit of a toussle with his mistress who also wanted to get her paws on it). Catherine knew how to throw a party and made a habit of hosting lavish bashes. In 1560, she held a do in honour of her son, François II and his wife Mary Stuart (Mary, Queen of Scots) and…fun fact: it was at this party that fireworks made their French debut. The fireworks weren’t cheap - they never are - and Catherine’s extravagant spending put a strain on the royal budget, eventually plunging the whole country into crippling debt. Hope the fireworks were worth it.
The chateau, that straddles the river Cher (as opposed to the singer, Cher) was used as a hospital during WWI and played a crucial role in WWII when the river was the dividing line between Nazi-occupied France and free France. Members of the French Resistance hid in the castle, its secret rooms and hidden passageways making it the ultimate hide-and-seek venue. Every kid’s dream.
To actually walk in this grand old castle, reading about its 500 years of history, and all those who had walked the halls before us, blew our feeble minds!
We made it to the sweetest town of Tours tonight, just in time to check into our bed and breakfast and meet our friendly host, Alexandra. Entering from the street, through a big, brown, wooden door, it was a huge surprise to see the beautiful maison that lay behind. Alexander recommended a great place for dinner where I’m sure the waitress told us the special for the day was “estrogen”. I got the giggles when Ross asked: “Is that a fish?”
As we walked home through the fairy-tale streets, the whole town was buzzing with locals out and about, restaurants overflowing and people chatting and laughing, making for a fun atmosphere, especially for a Thursday night.
