Sancerre Showers

For most of our trip so far the weather had been generally settled and warm but by the time we arrived in our last place in the Loire things had become unsettled weatherwise and the the forecast was for some heavy showers punctuated by spells of sunshine. Our next accomodation was an old cottage attached to the owners home in a hamlet just outside the village of Vinon. I messaged the owners to let them know we planned on arriving late afternoon. Driving south we made our way to the city of Bourges.

The landscaped changed as we crossed the Loire. After getting used to a landcsape of big skies and far horizons, trees now dominated, punctuated by villages in a terrain that undulated gently. Bourges is not a large city and should have been easy to navigate, but I managed to take a wrong turn when we got close to the centre, and eventually ended up in a car park about 10 minutes walk away from the historic centre. One benefit was the parking was free. After walking past an exhibition/conference centre we found ourselves in a small park behind the cathedral. We'd planned ahead and Mrs B had made us a picnic. A shaded bench seemed as good as spot as any to have lunch. After filled croissants purchased from the boulangerie that morning we set off to look around the heart of the old city. Naturally as it was right by us, the cathedral seemed a good place to start. Borges cathedral, dedicated to St Etienne, is another grand gothic church - there are plenty in the Loire Valley - but unlike most gothic cathedrals this one has no transept  but five naves than run the whole length of the cathedral. 

The nave of Bourges Cathedral

Stained glass, Bourges Cathedral

Construction started in the 13th century and as well as wonderful high vaulted ceilings, the cathedral has some beautiful mediaeval stained glass and, unexpectedly, a clock. 

Astronomical clock, Bourges, cathedral

This is an astronomical clock that was designed and installed in 1424 - its the oldest clock of its type in France and one of the oldest in the world.

After visiting the cathedral we wandered out into the streets of old Bourges - a mixture of timbered and stone buildings and cobbled streets. We eventually found a cafe and ordered sone cold drinks as the rain had held off but it was a very sticky sort of day. Unfortunately one of these cold drinks is likely to have caused a bit of a problem - of which more later.

Bourges

Before leaving the city we walked into part of the The Archbishop's Palace, housing a small museum. The museums in Bourges are undergoing a major renovation so in the House of Museums the city has gathered together a small collection of art and items - located on two floors a ground floor mainly devoted to art works and on a mezzanine. The mezzanine had a themed exhibition on sport which seemed very appropriate as France is hosting the 2024 Olympic games but my eye was drawn to a lovely piece of 16th century art, a painting called the Outdoor Concert, by an anonmynous Italian artist.

Our time in Bourges had come to an end and we headed towards our next base through rolling hills, stopping to pick up some food at a supermarket on the way. 

It was very pleasant to be driving through landscape with some hills and late afternoon we arrived at our accomodation, a rustic annex to the owners home. It was very pretty and located next to a stream that ran right next to the living area window. It was quite dark and slightly chilly inside and the kitchen had dozens of chamber pots hanging from the ceiling - a very quirky touch. 

The showers that had been promised started as we arrived and the air was heavy with the promise of thunder. 

Our base near Vinon

Having met our hosts we unpacked the car and settled in. After cooking a simple meal and after the rain had stopped I took a wander along the lane alongside fields of cereal crops and up a slight hill until I reached a small wayside cross. The undulating landscape looked very tranquil.

The rural landscape near Vinon

I returned to the house just as the first heavy drops of rained started and we settled in for the evening. That night we had a tremendous thunderstorm. Thunder claps came every few minutes and the night time sky was lit by enormous flashes of lightning.

Unfortunately Mrs B was feeling somewhat delicate the following morning. We think it might have been a spot of food poisoning and may have been caused by the iced drink she had the previous afternoon in Bourges. She couldn't keep any food down and didn't want to eat anything and spent most of the day sleeping. 

I had a couple of short solo explorations whilst Mrs B rested and recovered, starting with a walk alongside the Loire Lateral canal from the nearby village of Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre. The morning was still humid, cloudy but dry although my legs got very wet walking along the canalside path which was lined with long grass. A haven for moths and butterflies but the thigh high grass was still very wet and it was impossible to avoid brushing up against it resulting in a gradual but thorough soaking from about the knees down. From the canal there were views of Sancerre sitting on the hill above.

The Loire Lateral Canal

I returned to check up on Mrs B - who was still feeling poorly - then had some lunch and after another shower drove the short distance to the hilltop village of Sancerre. This area is best known for its wine - particularly its white wine. All around the village there are vinyards and dozens of wine makers. There are also goats cheese makers centred on the village of Chavignol just a few miles from Sancerre. Getting supplies for a cheese and wine party is a doddle in this part of the world.

I parked in Sancerre and walked through the quiet but attractive streets, some decorated with brightly coloured umbrellas to the central square. Because it sits on a hill the village provides panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and the grape vines growing in neat rows on the slopes are revealed. In the village there are plenty of wine sellers offering a wide range of vintages. Sancerre wine isn't cheap but I treated myself to a bottle to add to my growing collection taking up more space in the boot of the car. 

Sancerre

After a good wander through Sancerre, which was much quieter than I anticipated, I returned to the car and drove through some of the surrounding countryside, stopping to take in the views. The weather was changeable, bright sunshine one minute, then cloudy the next and every so oftern a few drops of rain would fall before petering out. 

A distant view of Sancerre

After my solo explorations of the Sancerre countryside I returned to our accomodation to find that Mrs B had perked up a little bit, but was still not up to eating so I made myself a meal and we had a quiet evening before packing up our bags. We were leaving early the following morning because it was time to leave the Loire and head north. Before returning home we had a couple of nights booked in Flanders, the first in France and the second in Belgium and the drive to our first stop was an estimated 5 hours - so an early start was needed.

Chenonceau and Chambord

After our stay in Villandry we had booked a few days in an Airbnb in a village called Oucques La Nouvelle, a little away from the tourist hot spots of the Loire valley. On the way to Oucques we visited one of the chateau that would definitely be classed as a tourist hot spot: Chenonceau.

Chenonceau is considered to be one of the prettiest of the Loire Valley chateau. It sits on the river Cher and was first built as a renaissance style palace in 1512. Its history, collections and archiectural development are credited to five wealthly and powerful women, Catherine Briconnet, Diane de Poitiers, Catherine de Medici,  Louise Dupin and Madame Pelouze. 

As well as entry to the interior of the chateau the admission ticket provides visitors access to the formal gardens, riverside walks, a 17th century farm, an old wine cellar, an apocathery and collection of old scientific instruments - and a donkey park.

The weather forecast predicted showers but we arrived in dry weather and before visiting the inside of the chateau we walked around the formal gardens. These, like those we saw at Villandry, were gardens with gravel and low box hedges and bedding plants all in geometric patterns. To be honest I found this a bit sterile

The formal gardens

Chenonceau selfie

Before it got too crowded we headed inside and followed a route from room to room and floor to floor. As a royal residence it was appropriately opulent, but what was unexpected is the collection of art. There are paintings by Rubens, Tintoretto, Murillo and large tapestries with incredibly detailed designs. As well as the art there are bedchambers and, most notably, the long gallery built by Catherine de Medici which spans the River Cher.

The Long Gallery

Part of the way around the tour we went out of the Long Gallery and walked along the riverside path to get a better view of the exterior. This feature, added in 1556-59 is unusual in that it spans the entire width of the river, supported by four full arches, and reminded me a little of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence or closer to home, the Pulteney Bridge in Bath.

The 'extension' added in 1559

Once we had finished our tour of the inside we started to look at the other parts of the estate. In a long outbuilding (that also housed a cafe) was the estate wine cellar and two exhibitions. One shows a collection of old scientific intruments and another is a rather beautiful apocathery built by Catherine De Medici. 

The wine cellar

The apocathery

After a bite to eat we walked through the 17th century farm taking refuge  from a sudden, but thankfully short lived downpour and then the vegetable garden where I gave some fuss to the resident cat. We finished our visit with a walk to the donkey park. I'm not sure quite why Chenonceau has a donkey park but as I like donkeys it was fun to go and say hello to the small group and give one of them a good scratch behind the ear before the rain returned and they took shelter and we dashed back to the car.

We had a bit of time to spare before we could check into our accomodation. Heading north across the Loire we made a brief detour to the town of Amboise. This town has a chateau set on a hill above the main street and is most famous as the place where Leonardo da Vinci spent his final years as a guest of the king, Francis l. He moved in with his baggage and three paintings, one of which was the Mona Lisa. We walked up the main street of Amboise and up a steep flight of steps to see a panoramic view of the town before circling back down. I had time to nip into a patisserie before we left to buy a pitaschio millefeuille. 

Amboise

Having stayed in rustic accomodation in Villandry, our Airbnb in Oucques was a complete contrast. An outbuilding of the owners home had been converted into a 2 bedroomed home, and had electric window shutters, superfast wifi, a fully equipped kitchen with top of the range appliances and a comfy king sized bed. All sat in a large garden. We settled in enjoying the space and modern coveniences.

The next morning I made a trip to the boulangerie, just a 3 minute walk from our temporary home and came back with croissants and a pain au raisin for Mrs B - which made for a lovely breakfast. We decided to take a break from chateau and instead headed off with our stomachs full of pastry and coffee to see the nearby town of Vendôme. The landscape had changed in character. This was clearly farming country and very flat with vast fields of cereal and other crops stretching away into the distance, pierced by clumps of woodland and arrow straight roads.  

One of the things we'd learnt about French towns was that shop keepers hours were a little unpredictable. In Vendôme there had clearly been a unilateral decision not to open on a Monday. When we walked through the town it was very quiet and apart from a couple of bars, a pharmacist and a bookshop everything else was closed. As a consequence there were very few people around and it was very quiet. This wasn't immediately apparent when we arrived. Parking near the base of a cliff we started to explore by climbing up a steep lane to a small park with flower beds and trees. This was the site of the chateau that has now vanished - apart from a solitary tower and ramparts that overlook the town. It was a good a vantage point to see the town but only when we descended did we discover a distinct lack of Monday morning hustle and bustle. Walking through the almost empty streets we turned a corner to find the frontage of an unexpectedly impressive gothic church - all flying buttresses and ornate stone carvings. 

Vendôme has a river running through it - the River Loir. This isn't a spelling mistake. There's a river Loir and Loire. The Loir is a much smaller river and the town has some pretty landscaped gardens and grand houses that overlook the river. I'm sure there's more to see in the town but with nothing much open we concluded that we should find a supermarket and get some ingredients to make lunch back at our accomodation.  

Vendôme's gothic church

The Loir

After lunch we ventured out again - this time to the city of Blois - which sits right on the banks of the Loire. More by accident than design we ended up parking right by the cathedral. We had a quick look inside before walking through to some gardens that overlook the river and the old city. 

From there we walked downhill, with no particular destination in mind, through streets lined with timber framed and stone buildings. Blois is another city that has historic and royal connections and its most prominent building is a large renaissance era chateau, once the home of the French king Louis XII. 

One of the timbered houses in Blois

Blois chateau

Having decided to have a day off from visiting chateau we skipped a visit and took shelter from a sudden shower under a row of trees in the Place du Château - a central square lined with grand houses on one side and views out to the Loire on the other. One of the houses was a little curious. Called the House of Magic it was a visitor attraction all about the art of illusion - but what made it remarkable were the animatronic dragon heads appearing out of the windows. Watching this spectacle made for an amusing diversion whilst we waited for the shower to pass.

After a day off from visiting chateau we resumed our Loire valley chateau explorations the following morning by visiting the 'big daddy' of royal homes: Chambord. Built as a royal hunting lodge between 1519 and 1547 Chambord is massive. It has 400 rooms, a fireplace for every day of the year and sits in an estate of woods and a game reserve with deer and wild boar surrounded by a 20 mile long wall.

Chambord

The spiral staircase

A royal bedroom

The building itself has a central keep surrounded by an outer wall and buildings that lead into a courtyard. The stand out architectural feature is a double spiral stone staircase right in the centre that leads to various floors with different suites of apartments. Around the edge of the keep are single spiral staircases and the whole building is a complete maze of corridors and rooms. We opted for the self guided tour and worked our way from top to bottom. It was a true rabbit warren of a building - with so many corridors and hidden rooms. It was relatively sparesly furnished - in keeping with how it was used in its early days. The royalty that built Chambord only used it on a temporary basis so most furniture was designed to be folded up or taken apart to be moved on to the next royal residence as the king and courtiers moved on. 

After a marathon session of visiting all the rooms - with some back tracking and detours - we popped back out into the courtyard. After another 'sandwich' - i.e. a whole filled baguette, it was time to walk into the grounds starting with a riverside walk. The river that flows past Chambord is the Cosson and a combined foot and cycle path leads away from the chateau, hugging the bank of the river. We passed by marshland and then woodland before reaching a bridge from which there was a distant view of Chambord. Returning on the opposite bank we spotted dozens of dragonflies and from the adjoining woodland there was birdsong and the chirruping of crickets in the grass. After the crowds of the chateau this was very peaceful.

We arrived back at the chateau and to finish our visit had a quick tour around the formal gardens. These were underwhelming compared to other gardens we had seen and it had become very warm and so we concluded our visit seeking cool in the car with the air con doing its job.

Before returning to our Airbnb we made short drive further south to the edge of the town of Bracieux. The reason for this: a chocolate maker, Chocolaterie Max Vauché. The chocolate production takes place in a small low rise building linked to a shop. They provide tours but we decided just to have a look around the shop and possibly purchase a treat or two. It was lovely and cool inside and we were the only customers - so the staff offered us samples. They make many different types of chocolate and its very good quality so we were happy to nibble on the plentiful supply of samples before I treated Mrs B to some chocolate to take away. Whilst Mrs B was browsing I had a look at an exhibition of chocolate scultures in the adjoining room to the shop - which included a life size chocolate car!

Mrs B - a woman on a mission...

Chocolate sculpture...

With our supply of chocolate kept in a cool place we set off back to our accommodation and prepared to pack up once more. We were moving on again the next morning, headed towards our last stop in the Loire Valley a village just outside the hilltop town of Sancerre, famous for vinyards and cheesemakers.

One Abbey, one Chateau, one City..... and some fine food

Fontrevaud Royal Abbey was founded by an itinerant preacher, Robert of Arbrissel, in 1101. His preaching caused some controversy and he was ordered to settle down by leaders of the church. This led to the establishment of a new monastic settlement and abbey at Fontrevaud about 3 miles south of the Loire.

The settlement became an important religious centre and unusual in that it was presided over by women. We decided to visit because it was on the way to our next stop and looked like an intersting place to go. Fontrevaud is a small village and you approach the abbey down a picture postcard strret of houses adorned with roses sbefore arriving at the abbey walls and an arch that takes you inside. Once inside what you see is somewhat unexpected. Rising high in front of you is a white stone building that gleamed in the morning sunlight. Inside is a simple but large space, with a high vaulted ceiling and at the end of the nave 4 efigies of kings (and a queen) of France and England. This is believed to have been the burial place of Henry ll and his wife Eleanor of Aquitance and their son, Richard the Lionheart and his brother King John. All told about 10 members of the powerful Plantagenet family were buried here.

Fontrevaud Abbey

Beyond the main abbey building there is a beautiful set of cloisters with monastic rooms off including a chapter house decorated in beautiful wall paintings. 

Cloisters at Fontrevaud

The abbey tour takes you through various rooms with information about its history and occupants. Perhaps the most suprising thing you learn when visiting is that the abbey that you see today has been massively restored. Many abbeys in France were deconsecrated following the French revolution and in 1804 Fontrevaud was turned into a prison and continued to be used like this until 1963! It had a reputation for being one of the harshest penal institutions in France. It was very strange wandering around all these monastic buildings where kings and queens were buried to think that in my lifetime the skeltel remains of royalty were rubbing shoulders with hardened convicts.

After a lenghty stay at Fontrevaud we continued on to our next destination stopping for a quick leg stretch and a superb gelato in the pretty little village of Azay-le-Rideau which has a chateau and fast flowing river running through it. 

Azay-le-Rideau

Finally in late afternoon we arrived in Villandry, our base for a couple of nights and checked into an auberge. It was a very old building - and a little rustic but perfectly comfortable. We ate in their restaurant the first night. On the upside the food we eventually ate was very good but on the downside our main course food orders were completely mixed up. Mrs B ordered a duck fillet and got veal kidneys. I ordered a fillet of pollock but got another type of fish. Mrs B's food was whisked away and then mine was shortly after. The staff were very apologetic and Mrs B was very happy with the dessert - a rice pudding with rum soaked raisins - which was what she'd ordered.

Our auberge in Villandry

The benefit of staying where we were was location. With just 100 meters to walk from our accomodation to the entrance to the chateau of Villandry we were able to have a leisurely breakfast and then just stroll along as the chateau opened. We were first in and started with the tour of the inside. Villandry is a renaissance chateau with a small moat at the front and extensive gardens. It was built in the earlier part of the 16th century and since then it has been added to, had bits removed and had various owners. It was extensively restored at the turn of the 20th century by a wealthy American woman and her Spanish husband. The inside was charming and, being first in, we had the rooms to ourselves for a while. 

Interiors of Chateau Villandry

The crowning glory at Villandry is not the house itself but the gardens. We climbed up to the top of the keep - the oldest part of the chateau - and this gave us a panoramic view of the gardens.  

There are 6 different garden areas at Villandry on different levels with and around 100,000 plants and 85,000 vegetables tended by a team of 10 full time gardeners. The layout is very formal with planting in geometric patterns and everything is very orderly. Having decended from our vantage point we made our way via a belvedere to the highlest level where a lake has been created and from there we worked our way through all of the garden areas, taking our time to stroll under grape vines and past rows of flowers or vegetables along gravel paths with not a leaf or blade of grass out of place.

The gardens at Villandry

For a visitor and gardening novice there are plans for each area showing what has been planted and where, which is helpful if you are not a plant expert - with translations into English. 

Before finishing our tour we stopped to watch a large group of carp in the moat. They were milling about near the surface and opening their mouths. Not being knowledgeable abot carp behaviour I've no idea if this is unusual!

So far we'd escaped any rain during our travels but showers were forecast so having seen all the gardens we decided to spend the afternoon in the nearby city of Tours, only a 20 minute drive away - thinking if it did rain hard we could at least take shelter indoors. As it happened the rain mostly held off - so we didn't need to take shelter although almost as soon as we arrived we did dive into a cafe and each had a filled baguette - very filling and only 4 euros!

Full of carbohydrates we set about burning off a few calories by walking around Tours. We made our way around the block to Tours cathedral. It was unexpectedly impressive with two towers fronting the entrance. Inside was a high vaulted gothic cathedral full of light with some beaitiful 13th century stained glass windows. 

Tours Cathedral

From the cathedral we walked the short distance down to the Loire and crossed the river via pedestrian footbridge. We walked along the riverside until reaching another bridge, Pont Wilson, named after the former US President, that took us back across the river. Part way along the bridge a lady stopped hearing our English voices. She lived in Tours but had fallen in love with England when she made a pen friend years ago. She spoke excellent English and we chatted for a few minutes about the places she had been to in England and the places we had visited in France. It was a lovely friendly encounter.

Our ramblings eventually brought us to the old medieval centre of the city with a compact network of cobbled streets lined with old stone and half timbered buildings. We sat at the corner at Place Plumereau eating an ice cream and watching people go by before we walked a little further with no particular destination in mind. I like just wandering around new places, sometimes off the main routes, immersing myself in the sights and sounds.

Tours

After an afternoon in Tours which was much calmer than Nantes and quite relaxing to walk around we eventually returned to our car and headed back to Villandry. 

Before going back to our auberge I took a country lane out of the village to find a farm specialising in goats cheese. The enterprising farmer had installed a self service vending machine - open 24 hours a day. Handy if anyone local needed an emergency top up of cheese in the early hours of the morning. I bought a small piece and popped it in a cool bag, hoping it would not get too ripe before I could sample it. 

That evening I booked a table at a restaurant called L'etape Gourmand' about a mile out of the village. This was another lovely meal, classically French, in rustic surroundings with perfectly cooked food and mouth watering desserts. For three nights in a row we'd had really well cooked and presented french food.

The next day we'd be in self catering accomodation - so a salad would probably be on the menu!