Amboise is a town in central France’s Loire
Valley. It's known for the Château d'Amboise, the
grand 15th-century residence of King Charles VIII
featuring Leonardo da Vinci's tomb, as well as
royal chambers, gardens and underground
passageways. Just outside town, Château du Clos
Lucé is Leonardo's former home, where he lived
until his death in 1519. It houses a small museum
displaying working models of his designs.
Wikipedia Link
A rest and lunch stop,
Amboise was just that for some, but for
others it was a town where the works of Leanardo da Vinci could be seen for a
price (not covered by the tour package). Our party took in the shops and
the restaurant (Crêperie Anne de Bretagne) we had to wait a half hour for it to open.
Apparently we weren't the only patrons of the restaurant from our tour family.
Ordered a formulae (3 course meal) which included a
gizzard salad,
a main course and
a
floating island (dessert) for the low price of 15.9 euros. Also stopped by
Biscuiterie d'Amboise for a sachet of "Crakou
Pistache"... brittle cookies.
The
Château de Chenonceau
is a French château
spanning the River Cher, near the small village
of Chenonceaux in the Indre-et-Loire département
of the Loire Valley in France. It is one of the
best-known châteaux of the Loire valley. The
estate of Chenonceau is first mentioned in
writing in the 11th century.
Wikipedia Link
The first of three chateaus visited as part of our tour
package, this chataeu sits on a bridge and is flanked by two gardens....one
for the wife and the other, more elaborate garden, for the mistress.
After a while I got separated from our party and continued wandering thru the
halls of the chateau, missing some photo ops with the party but taking pics of
whatever caught my eye...like
this stove and
this view of the river running underneath from within the chateau.
At the end of the tour you could tell the folks their had pets in mind....especially
dogs...