Three weeks today and I will be on the plane heading home. It seems incredible that this massive year of travel is coming to an end, but At the same time I am really very much looking forward to seeing Mark and David and all my friends again. It seems an eternity ago I left. What phenomenal memories I will take home with me.
Farewell to family in Wales. It was a very restful time with loads of time to catch up on with everyone , with time to recharge batteries and absorb the multitude of fabulous experiences we had had in Scotland. I am really happy with my trip planning, I must admit.
What a marvelous airport Charles de Gaulle Airport is now. It is so modern and very easy to get around, though I certainly got plenty of exercise walking from the plane to baggage reclaim and then looping back to the station. It was so clean and calm!
It was marvelous to see Els, this time in St Cyr France and not in Belgium.
A pretty white home, spacious and really quiet, with Els, Stef and Freya their beautiful dog. I am beginning to get attached to dogs now after more than a week with their company.
Faced with such a choice of castles in the Loire Valley, we set off in the direction of a little cluster which we thought could easily be seen in one day! Actually , we did not visit one!
The GPS very kindly took us on a one lane road ( memories of Scotland) towards Loches. After kilometres of flat, agricultural land, we suddenly arrived at a very quaint little hamlet, Pres de Loches, with a church, a magnificent avenue of trees
One or two mansions behind locked gates and this rather unique abode, ressembling a hobbit house ! Not a soul around apart from four other inquisitive tourists.
It was a lovely spot to stretch the legs and get the feeling of being in the heart of rural France.
En route to the various castles, we fortunately stopped to look around the Cite Royal de Loches., established over 1100 years ago and still proudly preserving many of its medieval and renaissance heritage.
Look at this gorgeous hairdressing sign, one of dozens of artistic creations describing the trade in pictures rather than writing.
And the butcher's
The city also had its fair share of unusual masterpieces. This one certainly makes you stop and look. Really bizarre and rather gross!
We were very pleased we opted against visiting the royal Apartments, instead choosing to visit the Keep, Le Donjon. It was a truly fascinating place, and exhausting, with its seemingly never- ending spiral staircases leading to its underground dungeons and torture chambers! The keep is , according to our info, one of the oldest keeps in Europe, being over 1000 years old and still standing there majestically, an incredible 36 metres high. Used both defensively and domestcally, it is a remarkable feat of construction. I managed the first two staircases but then could not cope with the height. This shell used to house three storeys.
We did both make it to the lookout tower, also about 35 metres up via an internal spiral staircase and well worth the climb!
Before we knew it, it was late afternoon and castles were postponed till the next day!
And what a day that was - perfect weather, the lovely castle of Chaumont- sur- Loire in an enormous park created hundreds of years ago, with majestic ancient cedars and unbelievably beautiful flower beds of blue and violet, all guiding the eye towards the castle. What a picture!
We never expected to spend the whole day there, but we did! There was so much to enjoy.
First of all a special festival of garden styles, entitled 'Flower Power' with 24 different little gardens to visit, like this one where externally it was all covered in ivy, ferns, etc and then on opening a little door, you entered a blaze of colour made even brighter by the mirror effect.
How I loved this passionfruit flower cascading down from a garden shed. I find the amount of detail in this one flower just out- of- this- world.
Outside, in the historic patk with the many cedars, was also a massive art display by international artists using only natural products. The displays were brilliant and kept us occupied for hours!
I really liked the one below with intertwined vines shaped into a dragon/ crocodile/ ?
In yet another part of these massive grounds was an area called Parc Guadeloupe with Chinese, Japanese, Korean and English gardens which were really lovely
Along with more fabulous displays of art using wood, like this wonderful spiral below.
Of course, all this was in addition to the Castle, which dated back to around the year 1000. Sadly, the original castle was burned down in 1465 and then rebuilt during the reigns of Charles 1 and 2 in the 15 th century.
I only had a quick visit but enough time to enjoy this well- maintained castle
With its magnificent courtyard with views of the lovely Loire, just metres away!
A particular highlight of the visit was also a visit to the stables
Marvelous place in its own right but made unforgettable by the stunning and touching exhibit called 'nid des murmures', nest of murmerings' . it was so delicate and the gentle background music almost sent you into a trance. My photo does not do it justice at all!
In the courtyard was a further exhibition which caught my eye with its combination of colour and texture. It made me think of my friends back home in NZ with whom I enjoy a very social knitting group once a month - more social than knitting in my case!
Els and I were exhausted after so much walking and so many things to look at. Even Freya, who had been with us all day, was shattered! On the way home we passed a tiny little bar, tucked into the limestone cliffs, right beside the Loire. It was so inviting!
Even more inviting were the banks of the gently flowing, lovely Loire. The river looked at its very best, bathed in the early evening light and reflecting the pretty puffy white clouds in its clear, almost motionless waters.
What a perfect place for a local Touraine wine and a platter of delicious local cheese! It was a wonderful end to an amazing day.
No comments:
Post a Comment