Chedigny, Amboise, Sunday Drive
May 14 Chedigny, Amboise, Sunday Drive
The plan today is a a Sunday drive visiting Amboise market again, Château Montrésor, Château Montpoupon, Pagode de Chanteloup, and Chedigny.
A First Mothers day spent in France. One worth remembering! A bowl of Fruit for breakfast. With a selection of fresh Croissants, Pain au Chocolate and a cup of hot Tea. A perfect start to the day ahead.
Today we decided to head back to Amboise to explore the Sunday Market. Friday Market is more for the locals, Sunday is a lot bigger and more for tourists, we found out. Friday would definitely be our choice! We had to park farther away beings parking was hard to come by. All good though. We enjoyed our walk by the river to the market on cloudy, chilly day.
Walk along the river on our way to the market
After jostling through all the people at the market, lunch started to sound like a good idea. We found our way out and back into town. We settled on Bigot for lunch. We had the “coziest corner in town” is how Jeff worded it.
Fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juice… or Jus de Fruits as its said here
It was perfect for a cool day. Téo really enjoyed visiting with our by-sitters (An older couple, they had just biked in 3 hrs from Tours). It's always a relief to the mom when the people sitting close by enjoy the baby sincehaving your own space is a little more confined when in France. Téo also enjoyed his high chair just like his at home.(Stokke highchair) He always seems impressed to have his own chair.
Perfect cup of hot chocolate on a chilly day
Full of good food and perfect cup of hot chocolate. But still room for more we stopped and bought some Apricot sorbet on the way out. Speaking of Apricots, they are in season here and the dried ones are so yummy. A favorite treat for snacks on the go. Back to Jasmine the car parked by the river and setting up several destinations in our GPS we continued our escapades.
A drive to Pagode de Chanteloup. A glimpse of it down the tree lined avenue was enough. After being destroyed in 1823, this is what is left of the Loire Valley version of Versailles, one lone monument and a large pool marking the spot where it once stood. (We visited the real Palace of Versailles which close to Paris in 2019. It a very stunning palace and makes the Châteaus in this area look more like large royal country homes.) It was cool and windy and the baby was asleep so on we went to Chedigny (The town of Roses).
Bienvenue to Chedigny
The mayor left a lot of Franks (Swiss money) to the townspeople telling them to use it towards planting roses. The sleepy little town has now bloomed literally. Parking our car we joined the other Europeans taking their Sunday stroll through this quaint village. Pretty it was. Even if the storm from the night before may have had a toll on the roses a bit.
Next destination was a drive by Château Montpoupon. Yes we could have gone in and taken a tour. In the moment we felt all cozy tucked up in our tiny car. The view was good enough.
Chateau Montpoupon flying its colors
On our drive you would catch glimpses of color along the road. A flashy pheasant it would be. They are so stunning. Montrésor as the next destination. Only to realizing we had already drove through the town before. We did find a gas pump there. That was a big plus! A cute one too. It had flowers growing around it.
Single pump filling station. Fuel can sometimes be a challenge to find. Green is Petrol and Yellow is Diesel in France
It was early evening. Heading back to the B&B to relax, pack up and prepare to leave La Jucherie tomorrow for travel day by train for our next destination…Paris!
Upon arriving back at La Jucherie we found ourselves outside, taking Téo for a swing, enjoying the flower garden, assembled a small daisy boutique and barefoot in the soft green grass. Napoleon ( the big fluffy white dog) soon came by to check on his buddy Téo.
Teo’s buddy Napoleon
Jean-Yves brought out some cushions for the lawn chairs. The kitchen door was open letting in the fresh air. We could hear Justine talking on the phone while she prepared dinner. Our laundry Justine had done was outside soaking up the sun a well. So relaxing…I found the gate at the back of the property. Beyond was a whole new world to explore. Vast fields. We three ventured out for a walk. The crops were so tall. Enclosing you, you felt all alone in the peace and quiet of nature. I could have kept on and enjoyed the adventure. Back to dinner we must go.
Well not supper quite yet. Justine talked Jean-Yves into giving us a ride in Bertie Blue the old car 77 model he was with soft cushy seats. With the sun shining now it was time for a ride!
The baby was sleeping. Justine looked after him while we went for a little jaunt in Bertie Blue around the countryside. Such fun!
Back in time for dinner we found the baby still fast asleep. It worked great to put him down for a nap while we enjoyed our meal or at least part of it. He didn't always sleep the whole time. Our last supper with Chef Justine. Good food and good talks. For this meal she made us a Salad with Apples, Ratatouille and for dessert Strawberry/Raspberry Meringue. Jean-yves opened a special bottle of wine for Jeff to try. I opted out for an virgin cocktail with a black currant fruit syrup. The Mum needs special treatment as Justine would say. After all, it's Mothers Day.
A Mum also needs a warm shower too, to finish the day. After a shower and packing up, we were ready to call it a day. Sweet dreams of Paris as we slept, for Paris is calling and we must go!