While we were having breakfast, Aurimas from the hot air balloon called to make arrangements for our hot air balloon ride tomorrow. We decided to go with him from St Catherine de Fierbois to Amboise and have a flight along the Loire River. He thinks that will be a much better flight and we'll see more, so we scheduled that.
Florence and Philippe told us that they would give us breakfast tomorrow before we left - and we said - NO, we leave at 4:30 am. "We'll just leave your breakfast in your refrigerator for you!" We all laughed.
We drove out into the country to the Abbaye Royale Saint-Michel de Bois -Aubry. The owner, Marc Olivier Gribomont, was our guide for a 10 am tour. He bought it in 2006 and knew he had to have it once he saw it. He sold his castle in Normandy to buy this and he has been restoring it for the last few years. He was very passionate about the abbey and had researched some in documents and speculated on other aspects. It has a fascinating history as the abbey dates to the 11th century. Yul Brynner is buried in the cemetery.
The Royal Abbey Saint-Michel de Bois-Aubry
The Royal Abbey Saint-Michel de Bois-Audry
Tim talking to Marc Olivier Gribomont in the yard of the abbey
Marks on the stones left by stoneworkers and others
We climbed the tower for a great view of the countryside
Out in the gardens with the abbey in the background
The grave of Yul Brynner at Abbaye Royale Saint Michel de Bois Aubry
We then drove to the town of Richelieu, built by Cardinal Richelieu in the 1600's. We had lunch at a sidewalk café - not the best we've had, but it was lunch. We walked through Richelieu Parc and enjoyed the town. Richelieu was the most powerful man in the kingdom and had more power than King Louis XIII.
The cathedral in Richelieu
One of the city gates in Richeliew
Statue of Cardinal Richelieu
Gates to Richelieu Parc
Looking from Richelieu Park to the city gates - note the city gate in the distance on the opposite side of the city center
Beautiful Richelieu Park
The gardens in Richelieu Park
We left Richelieu and drove to Chateau du Rivau Castle which is privately owned. It was absolutely stunning. The gardens, the maze, the vegetable gardens, the stables, and the chateau were wonderful. Rebelais, a famous French author similar to Shakespeare, wrote of Le Rivau in one of his novels and it is believe Joan of Arc stopped there to buy horses on her way to Chinon.
A Bentley driving club was visiting - beautiful old cars in the parking lot of Chateau du Rivau
The outside gardens at the entrance - the lavender was just starting to bloom
Entrance to the castle at Chateau du Rivau
A beautiful vegetable garden at Chateau du Rivau
The maze garden at Chateau du Rivau
Larry taking a break in the "adult hammock" garden at Chateau du Rivau - LOTS of walking!
The truffle garden is being recreated - we though there were truffles under this tree as the grass is "burned" just as we saw in Dordogne
The "walking garden" at Chateau du Rivau
Tim trying to get a peacock to "show" its feathers - peacock just to the right of the middle
Never happened!
Beautiful displays inside the chateau which is still occupied - lots of modern art
Chapel at Chateau du Rivau
Art in one of the rooms at Chateau du Rivau
The front entrance to Chateau du Rivau
We got back to our B&B about 6 and relaxed on our patio with a bottle of white wine we had purchased. Philippe came by to drop off our breakfast. I told him - "But it isn't 4:30 yet!" Not sure he got the joke from this morning until Tim and I both started laughing. I enjoyed watching the horses in the pasture just beyond our patio:
Horses in the pasture next to our patio at Les Bournais - Florence and Philippe have 4 of them.
We left early for dinner and went to St Catherine de Fierbois to make sure we know where it is. This is where we need to be at 5 am tomorrow morning for the hot air balloon. It was about a 30 minute drive and we easily found it. Then we returned to L'ile Bouchard for dinner at a small restaurant recommended in our travel book, but it was closed. We went to another and it was closed. And another and it was closed. By this time it was about 8:30 and we were concerned that we may have to skip dinner, so we drove half of the way back to St Catherine de Fierbois to a roadside restaurant that I had noticed was open. We had talked about driving to Chinon for dinner but we hadn't been there and didn't know how big the city was and whether we'd find the restaurants closed there too. Our dinner was "ok" - nourishment.
After dinner, we drove back to Les Bournais and went straight to bed. VERY early morning tomorrow for our hot air balloon flight. So excited.
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