We started our day in Orleans (Or-Lee-O with the accent on the last syllable). After stumbling into a park and ride, we took the tram about 5 stops to the Cathedral. You would think that after over 2 months of visiting dozens of cathedrals, basilicas and churches we would be numb to them but no. They are so beautiful you can’t help but be awe-struck. This one was no different.
On our way from the Cathedral to the main town square, we passed the Hotel Groslot, a 16th century building that was originally a Town Hall. We didn’t get to go in, but it’s a cool looking building.
After just a few minutes, we arrived at the Place du Martrol, the main town square of Orleans.
Then it was on to our final destination, Amboise, in the Loire (Low-R) Valley. The main reason to come here was to see the Chateau Royal d’Amboise, the former residence of Kings of France. Before the Chateau, there had been a fort on this spot since the Roman times. The Chateau originally was built by the powerful Amboise family before being confiscated by the Crown in 1434.
There weren’t that many rooms open to the public but the few that we saw were very nice.
King Francis I of France invited Leonardo di Vince to be court painter. Leonardo lived at the manor house Clos Luce adjacent to the Chateau Amboise until his death in 1519. He is buried in the Chapel which, unfortunately, is closed for renovation until later next year. While we didn’t get to see his gravesite, there is a bust of him in the garden. Tomorrow (Friday) we’re visiting Clos Luce.
Since we couldn’t check into our B&B until 5pm and it was still only a little after 3pm when we finished at the Chateau, we wandered the streets of this cute little town for a while. I found a store that sold linens and picked up some beautiful handmade cloths for our bedroom furniture. It was one of the few things on my must-buy list for this trip.
Before coming to the house, we drove across the river to get pictures of the front of the Chateau. Since there was no way to do that from the Chateau itself, we luckily found a place to park to get some beautiful pics.
We’re staying at a B&B tonight and our host, Martine, is delightful. Our suite is lovely, but the internet connection is atrocious. It has taken almost 4 hours to write this post as the pictures are taking FOREVER to upload. So, I’m going to close for tonight. Tomorrow I’ll take pictures with my phone rather than my camera so I can upload them to the blog from the phone while on 4G. It will be much faster than trying to upload from my computer on the house WiFi. So frustrating. Night everyone.