I woke up at 5:30 for some reason and got up for an hour and caught up the blog. We have another full day. Went back to bed for a while at 7 and then up to prepare for breakfast with Florence and Phillipe. Everyone is still here from the other night so a lively breakfast conversation - we especially enjoy talking to the German couple from Cologne.
Today the highlights are Chinon and Fontevraud Abbey. We reversed the itinerary as Tim doesn't like market days (and I love them) and it is market day in Chinon.
First we headed to Fontevreaud which was founded in 1101. In the abbey lies Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine who died here in 1204, and King Richard the Lionhearted and his wife Isabelle, wife of Richard's brother King John (long story!).
Fontevraud Abbey
Inside the Abbey at Fontevraud
The cloister at Fontevraud Abbey
Beautiful archway going into a chapel at Fontevraud
Old paintings on the wall telling the story of Christ - the crucifixion and resurrection
Beautiful symmetrical gardens at Fontevraud Abbey.
A huge "bio-diversity" conference was underway here
The cuisine - the kitchen for the abbey
Inside the cuisine - where the "ovens" were set up
The back of the Fontevraud Abbey
Tombs of Richard the Lionhearted and his wife Isabelle
The tombs of Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Henry II
We had a light lunch in the tea room at Fontevraud Abbey as we have a very large dinner planned for tonight in L'ile Bouchard at Auberge du L'ile.
We then headed to Montsoreau and Candes Saint Martin on the banks of the Vienne River. The towns are very close together and it is said that even a cow can't graze between the towns. The castle was interesting but closed until later in the afternoon, so we just walked around. The church was built in the 12th century. So much history is around here! Emilie had recommended a walking trail and we did about 1/3 of it! (Hurray for me!). It was fun. We stopped for a coffee before we continued on.
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The old church in Montsoreau/Cande Saint Martin
The Castle at Montsoreau
We then drove a very short way to Turquant. This is a city with lots of troglodyte caves where people lived many years ago. But we went to the place where they dried apples and pears in ovens in the caves many years ago which preserved the vitamins in the fruits for sailors. Most of the product went to Nantes for the sailors. The owner and his wife were precious and we made the "French tour" work - I understood most of it and translated. Hey, I may be learning French again!
A display of how they lived in the caves where the fruit pressing happened
A small fire was built in the ovens in the back and the fruit was heated for 3 days before "tapping"
Inside the troglodyte cave where the fruit was "tapped"
The wife of the man who does the fruit tapping- she was precious. Spoke no English!
Then we headed to Chinon - the home of the Plantegenet Kings. Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine lived here and Richard the Lionhearted was born here. It was here that Jeanne of Arc came to meet with Charles VII in 1429. I was here about 20 years ago and it was different. The displays were excellent and we enjoyed walking around. Our German friends told us that they have spent about 20 million euros in the last 5 years fixing up the castle. It was great.
Chinon Castle
View of Chinon from the castle
One of the lookout towers at Chinon
Inside one of the lookout towers at Chinon
Tim on top of the clock tower
Tim as a Templar Knight at Chinon - he face was computer generated from a camera in the forehead.
(Looks like he was shot in the head!)
Larry as a Templar Knight at Chinon Castle
The entry tower to Chinon Castle
The clock tower as seen from the city below - it still works!
The river in Chinon
A statue of Rameblase, famous in France as Shakespeare
We found Chateau Plauzeau, a winery with a cave in the rocks on the outskirts of Chinon
Entrance to the winery Plauzeau
The tasting room at winery Plauzeau
The cave at winery Plauzeau - this is all carved out of the stone mountain under Castle Chinon!
We decided to skip the goat cheese place and headed back for a bottle of champagne that we purchased yesterday. We sat on our patio and talked, drinking champagne, and watched the horse grazing and enjoyed our champagne. This is living! It doesn't get any better.
Three of their four horses grazing near the fence to our patio this afternoon
At 7:45 we headed to our dinner reservation in L'ile Bouchard at Auberge du L'ile. We were seated but I noticed a great terrace overlooking the river. I asked the waiter if we could have aperitifs on the terrace and he agreed. We went out and it was beautiful. We had peche aperitif with champagne there and they brought us a plate with appetizers. Beautiful setting.
We ordered on the terrace but went in for dinner. Tim HAD to have the "Mac Ko" as inspired by the chef - but he didn't know what it was. We laughed that he was getting a "big Mac"! And when it came, it looked like a "small Big Mac" and we laughed. He didn't know whether to pick it up like a hamburger to eat it or use a knife and fork - we decided the latter was appropriate.
Our view for aperitifs on the terrace by the river at Auberge L'ile Bouchard - beautiful evening
The "Mac Ko"!
He loved it but wasn't sure what it was. I asked the owner and she said explained to him in French but he didn't understand. I told her: "C'est une mystrouse" (sp?) so she explained to him then in English. It was fois gras on a bun with lettuces and other delicious things. Tim loved it and it was perfect for him. So he had a "big mac" made with fois gras!
Dinner was spectacular. I had a lobster for a starter and we both had fish for main course. We had a bottle of 1999 wine from Saumur with dinner. Even though it was a golden color, it was divine with our fish. The sommelier had helped me pick it out.
We headed back about 10:30, relaxed, caught up with email and blog and then went to bed. Tomorrow is not as grueling but we have to travel about an hour to get to Amboise, where we went for our hot air balloon flight a couple of days ago.
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