The visit to the Loire valley was really great as the trains of course go to every little town and either IN the center of town or within walking distance to the center of each town. The small towns were very picturesque, uncrowded, filled with locals and fun to just walk around and look in shop windows, drinking coffee at the outdoor cafes and visiting castles and cathedrals built in the 11 thru the 15 the centuries. The opulence of buildings built in the dark ages and still in great shape was impressive.
In the Loire Valley we got to a number of chateaus including Blois, Amboise and Chenonceaux plus Leonardo De Vinci's home in Amboise where he died in 1519 still filled with his furniture and drawings and models of his inventions.
Our first stop in the Loire Valley was Blois on the Loire River. Our hotel Anne de Bregtagne was a short walk from the train station and a block from the famous Chateau de Blois. This chateau was the principal royal palace for the French kings until Henry IV moved to Paris in 1598. The chateau consisted of 4 distinct parts built in the 13th, 15th 16th and 17th centuries. Francois I between 1515-1524 built the dramatic exterior stone octagonal staircase.
For two days we made Amboise our home base. The train station (Gare) is about a mile from the center of town on the north side of the Loire River that was very wide at this point. Amboise is the home of the Chateau de Amboise as well as Clos-Luce the home of Leanardo da Vinci for his last years (1515-1519).
Chenonceau is one of the premier chateus and considered the most picturesque spanning the Cher River. We took a train from Amboise to Tours and then to a small train stop at the "front door" of the beautiful palace grounds. Before we went to visit the chateau we walked into the very small village of Chenonceaux for some lunch at the Hostel du Roy.
Chenonceau was built in 1513 by a tax collector for the kings. In 1535 the Henry II acquired it and gave it to his mistress who added the gardens and the bridge to the other side of the Cher River. On Henry's death the queen Catherine de Medici took over the chateau and added three stories to the bridge in 1556 to create the Grand Galerie.
On our return train ride to Amboise the sun was beginning to set and we came across a beautiful seen before crossing the bridge back to the town. The next morning we stopped at a wine store and purchased two bottles of very fine Loire Valley Touraine Sauvignon for 27FF or about $4.00 each. These we carefully put in our backpacks before heading back to the Gare to catch the train to Orleans and back to Paris for an afternoon at the Orsay Museum and dinner in the Latin Quarter.
The trains in France are very nice, modern and uncrowded at this time of year. I found out that they are not as bike friendly as we found in Germany or Switzerland during bike tours I have taken in 1999 and 2000 (see links below). The cost of living in the small town was very reasonable (cheap). In Paris it was cheaper than I had expected although we went to the 2 star hotels and small local restaurants of the locals and not the five star restaurants for the "rich and famous". Overall France was a wonderful place to visit, lots of wonderful very historic (i.e. built before Columbus landed on America's shores) buildings to tour and easy to get around by train and Metro.
Thank you for visiting our Paris vacation site. Please come back and visit again! Bob and Laura
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