Finally a day where we are back at our hotel at a decent time. It is 5:10 pm for us right now (back home, it is about 11:10 for you). I feel so much better than yesterday and I have about 2 hours before Mom & I should go find dinner.
I know I've mentioned how the restaurants close after lunch and then don't open again until dinner time. Did I tell you that "dinner" time is usually around 8pm? The restaurants will not be open in France until at least 7pm. So we have some time to kill.
This morning (wow, I actually caught up to today!), we went to the Ladies' Castle. Remember how yesterday we went to the castle that was more masculine for King Francois I, meant to be a hunting lodge kind of deal. This castle is more feminine and housed many very powerful women throughout French history. The two most significant were Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Medici. Francois I's son, King Henri II was married to Catherine of Italy when they were about twelve (if I'm remembering correctly), but his mistress was Diane de Poitiers, who (time to get weird) was not only 20 years older than him, but also his nanny when he was growing up. He gave Diane this castle, which she renovated, adding a bridge and a garden.
When Henri II died, Catherine, now the queen of France, made Diane move out of the castle and she moved in (don't feel too bad for Diane, though. She just moved into a different castle). Catherine added more renovations and added an Italian style garden on the other side of the castle.
Other noble women lived there too, but I won't blog about them. I'm sure if you just google the castle you can find out about the other women. At one time, there were 300 noble women all living together in the castle.
Picture time!
The chapel inside the Ladies' Castle:
The Gallery is the long room across the bridge (the bridge without the roof/rooms was added by Diane. The rooms & roof was added by Catherine) was used in WWI as a hospital.
Stairs to the kitchens, buchery, etc where the servants worked:
The exhibit for the military hospital (for WWI soldiers was actually in the stables outside the castle, even though the hospital was in the gallery:
The view from the second floor of the castle:
I also got pictures of both gardens. In Catherine's garden (Italian style and less formal), they are shooting for the American TV Series "The Serpent Queen", so we got to see a lot of actors dressed up and we weren't allowed in that garden.
Before I get to the outside locations (stables and the like), I want to mention that in WWII the castle was used as a refugee sight. This castle is located on the river that separated the German occupied France (in the north) to Free France (in the south, also called Vichy France because Vichy became the capital when Hitler took Paris).
After the stables, there are the gardens and farm. They had a beehive and donkeys.
I actually think I like the flower and vegetable gardens better than the formal gardens, but Catherine's seemed nice from far away. But, again, we weren't allowed in it.
And Catherine also added a labyrinth:
Path to the labyrinth (we didn't have time to actually go see it):
After the Ladies' Castle, we traveled to the Royal Town of Amboise. Amboise is called a royal town because it is where a lot of kings (as princes) were raised and groomed to be kings. Amboise is also the town where Leonardo De Vinci spent the last 4 years of his life and where he is buried.
Amboise is a quaint little town. I liked it a lot. Not too many people like Tours, which I'm not too impressed with, to be perfectly honest. When we arrived, we walked up to Leonardo De Vinci's house, or at least the house that Francois I had him stay.
Then we walked back to the main street of Amboise to have lunch. We ate at the restaurant that is owned by the famous Chocolate shop and had excellent quiche. Oh my goodness the crust was excellent, not to mention the egg & cheese.
Then we went on a tour of Amboise castle, where many kings stayed, including Francois I. There was even an underground tunnel (not here today) so Francois could go visit Leonardo when he wanted.
More pictures:
Leonardo De Vinci's house:
Gardens at Leonardo De Vinci's house:
The Chocolate shop/restaurant where we ate lunch. And yes, we bought chocolate there too. Mom bought Chocolate Noir, which we just tried and it is so strong and bitter (no sugar at all). I think it is to be eaten with wine or coffee at least. I don't like it. I bought a dark chocolate with orange flavoring that we both like.
Amboise Chateau:
The Chapel (where Leonardo is buried):
The outside of the castle again. The left wing is a gothic style, while the right is a Renaissance style.
The view from the top of the castle out onto the river is nice too.
Inside the castle:
That isn't actually a throne. It is a bishop's chair taken from a cathedral just placed in the castle to furnish it. but it looks nice. I think she said it's from a cathedral in Normandy.
The bed has iron handles on it because when the king traveled from castle to castle they took all the furniture with them. I wish I could do the same. I would love to be sleeping in my own bed right now.
A chest for jewels:
The music room:
I didn't seem to take as many pictures inside this castle. I blame it on being our second stop. Plus I feel like the other cathedrals/basilicas/castles we've been to are prettier. But, again, I really liked the town of Amboise. I think I wouldn't mind staying there.
So, now we have about an hour and ten minutes to kill before looking for a light dinner. We're actually getting tired of eating full-course meals...even though we haven't actually done that every single night. We're so American.
I don't think I have much more to say. Tomorrow, we have to get up early to go to Normandy to see Mount St. Michel and the Bayeux tapestries. So, it may be another long day. I wouldn't be surprised if I am very tired again tomorrow, so sorry if I don't post again until Thursday. I posted twice today, so you're fine.
A plus tard, mes amis.
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