We continue via back roads to the outskirts of Amboise and check into the Hotel Chantaloup where we stay three nights while seeing the chateaux in the area. That evening we eat at the Aubergue du Mail restaurant downtown. The food is tasty and not as rich as at the Prieure, still we can’t eat half of a 5-course menu.
After breakfast we go to the poste restante and pick up mail, then drive to Blois for a tour of the Chateau. Everything is well marked and it is easy to self-tour. It is heavy with decorations of fleur-de-lis, is interesting and the best chateau we have seen so far. We leave at the noon closing and drive toward the Chambord Chateau. In the small town of Maslives we find a good restaurant where we have a vegetable salad and pottage (soup).
The Chambord Chateau is very large, and different from Blois; it is not as heavy with decorations, the rooms are larger and ceilings higher, and there is a double spiral François I stair. As we leave it is raining hard and continues all the way back to the Chantaloup.
Leaving for supper that evening we find the Peugeot is broken; the gear shift lever has no connection to the gears. We call Hertz and a truck with a flat trailer comes and hauls the car away for repair. We taxi to and from the Aubergue du Mail for a good meal.
In the morning the car is returned about 9:30; we drive the Peugeot man to his agency nearby and sign papers. On to downtown and shop for lunch materials at a market before driving to Chateau de Chenonceau in cloudy weather with a cool wind. Spanning the Cher River, this is perhaps the most picturesque chateau we have seen. The grounds are extensive and beautiful. There are big crowds; we are glad we are “off season”.
After a picnic lunch we drive to Amboise Chateau; from the car park it is a stiff climb up ramps to the ground level. We take a French tour and are pleasantly surprised because the chateau is more interesting than anticipated. Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years here and is buried in the Chapel. The Royal apartments have some very nice furniture and tapestries.
We leave Amboise and drive via Montrichard to Borges, arriving at noon; we have an omelet and vegetable salad plus Normandy Cider at a small bar restaurant. The cathedral is closed for lunch hours so we drive on to Digoin and the Hotel Diligences that a friend had recommended. The weather threatens all day, but there’s not much rain, it’s just cold and damp. It is very pretty country with open fields and many white cattle.
We have an excellent meal at the Diligences, starting with a mousse of craw dads, then ham in a cream sauce, spinach in crepe, celery, beans, cheese potatoes in a side dish, cheese, and dessert. Our room is satisfactory and has lavatory and bidet, but lacks private toilet.
Even tho we had a gourmet dinner, the breakfast is plain continental. We drive to Bourg en Bresse and the Brau Church which is now a historical monument, not an active church. The carved tombs and choir stalls are spectacular.
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