Chateau shopping in the Loire

Chateau de Chenonceau

Photo courtesy of chenonceau.com

This photo is kind of a bait-and-switch tactic.  We didn't actually go there, but I knew you'd all like it.  Read on to see the great places we did go!

We had a nice breakfast of yogurt, muesli, croissants and baguettes, and once again got to chat with the other guests at the B&B.  One couple was from Britain, one from Canada and one from Minnesota.  All had different sightseeing plans for the day. 

This is the area of chateaux, since it's not that far from Paris, but also has good wineries, which some of the other B&B guests were visiting.  As much time as we spent planning our sightseeing at home, before the trip, once we got here and had the advantage of talking to our B&B hosts, we followed their recommendations almost to the letter.  We were interested in seeing some castles, but we were staying on the west side of the castle area.  Our possible choices would have meant driving back and forth across the whole area, and through some congestion in the town of Tours.  I had been to the Loire before, and thought Chenonceau would be a great place for our group.  It's one of the most picturesque castles from the outside (see above).  When I mentioned Chenonceau to our hosts, in addition to Azay-le-Rideau, a chateau I hadn't seen, they suggested Azay-le-Rideau.  It was closer, and both had the added attraction of a water element.  They said if you want to spend a day seeing castles why not choose castles with different features?

Based on the info we got from our hosts, our plan for the day was to see Azay-le-Rideau inside and out, Chateau Villandry just outside - for the fabulous gardens, Chateau de Langeais for its fort-like atmosphere, and to do a drive-by of Chateau d'Ussé  to take a few pictures of its fairy-tale towers and turrets.

Marcel recommended we stop in Chinon for a drink on the way home, and voilà, that would be our day!  (See how I just plunk a french word into an english sentence?  That's how I talk here too!  I can't believe we haven't been asked politely to leave the country!)

Azay-le-Rideau

The entrance to Azay-le-Rideau

Linda took this great picture of Azay-le-Rideau from across the pond

The stream flowing by was dammed up specifically to slow the water down and create this mirror effect of the castle. 

We couldn't take photos inside, but enjoyed the tour of several furnished rooms, and saw some huge and elaborate tapestries, ornate paintings, and a great timbered attic.

Chateau Villandry

Ornamental gardens with Chateau Villandry in the background

More of the ornamental gardens

Vegetable gardens in the background

Vegetable garden

The gardens are the attraction here.   There are different areas for different themes: the vegetable garden, the herb garden, the sun garden, the maze, the ornamental garden.  It's amazing and beautiful.  We read that they're now using organic methods throughout the gardens with great results, though it costs more to maintain them that way.   

My fellow travellers in the maze

Chateau de Langeais

This chateau was built as a fortress in the 15th century.  The inside is furnished with huge tapestries, heavy wooden furniture & immense fireplaces.

Langeais from the back

Steps built up to the top of the 10th-century fort ruins provide a great view of the new fortress

Cute village below the fortress

Chateau d'Ussé

Fairy tale towers and turrets at Chateau d'Ussé

We elected to have dinner at the B&B again, since we'd had such a great time last night.  Dinner started again with wine and hors d'oeuvres in the cave.  The weather outside was cool and windy, but the temperature in the cave was very pleasant.  It was too cool for dinner on the terrace, so we were inside at the dining table. 

We had another great dinner.  This time spaetzle (a german pasta) with a turkey sauce for the main course, and a great salad with garden fresh ingredients and pharmacist-approved mushrooms (see yesterday's post).  A nice local wine was served throughout the meal.  Dessert was a flourless chocolate cake.

Bye-bye Bayeux

Today we're leaving Bayeux.  I'd come back here again, if just for the great food & beautiful scenery. 

Here's a daytime photo of Linda next to one of the picturesque waterwheels in town.

 

Linda, a waterwheel, and beautiful flowers

We had another great breakfast of pastries at the hotel.  Today we had french toast with apples in addition to the usual croissants & baguettes, and a little glass of rice pudding.  I'm in heaven!

We're headed to a little B&B in the Loire valley, in the township of Ligré.  On the way we stopped to see Mont St. Michel.  Rick Steves suggests a stop at a biscuit shop along the road, Biscuiterie de la Baie du Mont St. Michel.  They offer free samples of the cookies they make, decent bathrooms, and a photo op of the Mont.  We stopped and took advantage of all three, plus bought some of the great cookies. 

View of Mont St. Michel from the causeway

Mont St. Michel has been a major pilgrimage site for the last 1,000 years.  Now millions of tourists visit every year.  Since the island was cut off by tides each day, decades ago a causeway was built to allow consistent access.  A parking lot built near the island would still flood at high tide, but was used by hundreds of cars at other times of day.  Blocking off the flow of water around the island was negatively impacting the whole area.

Currently the parking lot that was fairly close to the entrance has been demolished.  A new parking lot has been built far away from the entrance, and a free tram will take you closer in.  This involves lots of walking.  It's about 1/2 mile to the tram from the parking lot, and another 1/4 mile or so from the tram stop to the hill.  But the end result of all of this will be a bridge replacing the causeway, which will allow water to flow around the island, and will reestablish the ecosystems that are in jeopardy now. 

The messy entrance to the Mont

Once we reached the island we relied on Rick Steves' advice once again.  The narrow main street is packed with tourists.  He suggests going up the stairs just inside the gate and walking along the ramparts.  You're above the hoards of tourists, and get to the top faster too. 

We paid to tour the abbey at the top of the island, and saw huge fireplaces, peaceful cloisters, ornate stonework and great views.    

The abbey at Mont St. Michel

Cloisters in the abbey

A view of the village below the abbey

We could only allow a few hours for our visit, so we bought some sandwiches and ate them sitting on a stone wall watching the crowds.  I hear that the island is magical at night, all lit up and devoid of the crowds,  but we'll have to save that for another visit.

After a few more hours on the road we arrived at our next B&B, La Closerie Saint Martin, in Ligré, which is south of Chinon.  Run by charming Marcel and Katharina Hirt, from Switzerland, it's a beautiful little place. I found it on TripAdvisor.  The inner courtyard is a perfect setting for drinks in the afternoon and dinner on warm evenings.  We had nicely appointed and comfortable rooms.  

The most fun part was the dinner they served, as an option, with a night's stay.  It began with a trip down

into the wine cellar, where wine and hors d'oeuvres were served.



Candles light our path down into the wine cellar

Host Marcel serves wine and hors d'oeuvres

The other guests staying at the B&B and sharing the dinner with us were english-speaking, which made it easy for us to enjoy the conversation.  We sat at one big table and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.  Marcel and Katharina had already polled the guests about dietary issues and based the menu on what everyone could, or would, eat.

Dinner table set up in the courtyard

We had some kind of white fish with a wonderful sauce.  A good salad accompanied the dinner and the greens had come from our hosts' garden.  Marcel said mushrooms were starting to appear in the woods, so we had fresh mushrooms on the salad too.  In France, like in Italy, pharmacists are trained to recognize different species of mushrooms.  Townspeople can take the mushrooms they gather into the pharmacy to make sure they're not poisonous.  Tim, being a pharmacist, thought that was interesting, but said that mushroom recognition wasn't part of his training in the U.S.

Dessert was panna cotta with a vanilla sauce and pears.  I wish I had pictures of the great dinner, but frankly, by the time we think about it, we've eaten most of the food!