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Rancho Relaxo Part Two

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Up early for a run around the beautiful harbour of Honfleur before tucking in to the most anticipated breakfast of our five weeks in Europe. The great thing about running, besides the fitness benefit, is the places you end up in that you may not have seen because you would never have walked that far.

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We came across a beautiful park early in the morning that was full of Lilly pads with just as many frogs all enjoying the wonderment of the pond. The attention to detail that the French give their gardens is something to behold and we have been fortunate to see many such examples of fine horticultural displays on our travels.

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Back for breakfast, which is something to be seen to be believed. We had read about this on trip advisor before booking our accommodation and it did not fail to disappoint. Fresh produce, homemade pastries and freshly brewed coffee, we were in heaven. The hosts make everything on site, including the jams, juices and pastries, and it was a delight to taste every mouthful as we devoured the most amazing food we have had so far on this trip.

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Our day was spent wandering around Honfleur, visiting St Catherine’s Cathedral, the oldest wooden structured church in France, the Boudin Museum, who was a mentor to the great Claude Monet, and shopping, where we found a groovy pair of yellow pants for Hughy to wear back in Melbourne at our next social function.

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A visit to Honfleur would not be complete without eating alongside the port and partaking in a bowl of mussels, which we duly did for lunch at around 3pm having not felt hungry until then thanks to our bountiful breakfast. The port is full of every type of boat and lined with so many restaurants it is a wonder they all survive.

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More walking around then back to our house for a couple of hours sitting in the garden relaxing with a book and enjoying the afternoon sun. The garden where we are staying is amazing and truly compliments the house. The hosts had a write up of their estate in the equivalent of Vogue Living magazine, unfortunately my French was not quite up to scratch to be able to decipher the article. Nonetheless, the pictures spoke a thousand words and did the house justice.

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With the heat starting to reach it’s peak and the humidity steadily rising with it, we headed off to dinner, somewhere that had a breeze that allowed some respite from the humidity that was now engulfing us.

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A quaint little cafe was the choice for the evening but did not offer the breeze we were looking for. Once again we managed to get charged one less drink than what we had ordered, it’s a surprise Honfleur are not in a recession.

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Our stay in Honfleur had been much anticipated and it did not disappoint. For anyone travelling through the Normandy region of France this is a must stay on your visit.

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Feeling truly revived we were ready to head off to Amiens for more battlefield history, but more of that for another blog.

Along the coast to Honfleur

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The day started hot and humid and the moment Rachael headed out for a run it became very humid indeed, thunderstorm wet!

Me being sensible (read lazy) protected our bags from the safety of bed!

After all that excitement it was time for breakfast at the communal table, which we shared with a Dutch fellow, who filled us in on lots of political talk about the Greeks, plus shared travel tales and adventure.

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We battled through the rain to the MAHB, the Museum of Bayeux art history, mainly because it was part of a museum pass we had than any great desire to be in another art gallery, but it was pretty interesting, and kept us dry while it bucketed down outside.

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Enough culture, time to have a last look through the Cathedral before heading off toward our next pitstop.

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The beauty of today is our next stop is only 90kms away so we were in no hurry to get anywhere, plenty of time for our friendly GPS to lead us on a merry goose chase through the beautiful Normandy countryside.

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And so it did, down lovely lanes, through ridiculously charming villages with picture postcard looks, literally caressing the fields of wheat and clover as we meandered down tiny country tracks, until finally spitting us out onto a proper road which led to our first stop at Arromanches, home to the D-Day beaches of Juno, Sword and Gold.

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The beach is quite spectacular, remnants of the landing vessels dot the horizon, permanent reminders of what went before, with a few rusting hulks lying close to shore.

Unlike Omaha beach which is pristine, this one shows plenty of signs of a real conflict.

Arromanches sits right on the beach, was flattened during the invasion and rebuilt, like so many towns, after the war.

A charming little village except for the huge water rats that took a liking to Rachael, almost dragged her into the water!

Enough war business, time for relaxation….except we drove straight past the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery and had to stop to pay our respects.

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The D-Day experience is all about paying respect to those who made the greatest sacrifice, so we did, in a small neat solemn place, set inland from the beach.

The impact is not as powerful as the American cemetery, yet still a sobering reminder of the price paid by ordinary citizens thrown into extraordinary times.

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Time to push on to our next stop, the historic harbour town of Honfleur.

An hour later we arrived at our humble abode for the next two nights, a modest little joint two streets from one of the most beautiful old harbour villages in France.

When I say modest I don’t really mean it, man this place is unreal, the best of our stay by far and probably the best we have ever stayed at.

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There will be more gushing about this place tomorrow, but holy-moly it is tremendous, and the hosts…

Honfleur is beautiful, the harbour is enclosed in four and five story wooden and brick buildings, most with restaurants on the ground floor all hovering over the water. Narrow laneways abut the harbour leading in all directions, filled with boutiques, art galleries and cider shops.

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Cider is the main drink of Normandy along with Calvados, and there must be 50 shops selling the stuff. Between them and restaurants it’s a surprise the obesity rates aren’t through the roof!

We had dinner at a lovely restaurant up one of the laneways, sat on the footpath to enjoy the ambience, and promptly turned into ten year olds as we watched the ongoing circus that was “avoid the dog shit!”

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The French love their dogs, they travel everywhere with them, the ‘pooper scooper’ is definitely an optional extra, and one dog had proudly placed his mark right opposite our restaurant.

You know how fart jokes are always funny….well, the running commentary as we waited for the first unsuspecting soul to take one short step too many kept us most amused!

After many near misses, one too many German tourists risked our mirth and hit the jackpot….did a beautiful pirouette which gave the flys a whole new angle of attack, before heading off oblivious!

Rachael stopped giggling about 15 minutes ago!

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Small minds, too much time on our hands!

By the way, dinner was lovely, plus they forgot to bill us for the wine….winners all round!

Mont St. Michel and the D-Day beaches

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Today is a very exciting day as we finally get to see one of the most iconic places in France if not Europe, Mont St. Michel.
When we were planning our last trip two years ago this was high on the ‘must do’ list along with D-Day but logistics got in the way and we had to bypass Normandy, but not today!

It’s going to be a long day and the weather is stinking hot, so travel light and hydrate.

Speaking of the weather (sorry Mornington Peninsula!), Europe has been in the grip of a monster heatwave, the hottest in a century, and temperatures have been up 15C above average.

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So, up and at ’em early! 7am early, with pastries from the lovely patisserie next door then follow the GPS to the island 75km away.
Our friendly guide sends us down country lanes dotted with tiny hamlets, stone walls leaking onto the road, rambling two storey cottages lurking down at us,and many a surprised cow wondering what the hell these dumb Aussies are doing on their roads!?
Beautiful countryside, very narrow roads….luckily little oncoming traffic.
Finally a dual carriageway and we’re hurtling down the road at 130kph, boring but quick.
As you pass through the town of Avranches you get your first glimpse of the mount, and the excitement grows, it is an amazing sight appearing in the distance as if floating on water, a huge abbey reaching to the heavens.

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We park about 3kms out and catch a shuttle bus to the mount, and the view only gets better and better.
All those photos in travel guides don’t really prepare you for Mont St. Michel up close, it steeples up, soaring out of a wall of stone with alarm, a glorious abbey perched on top.

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It really is an incredible sight, and one seen by millions each year, the third most visited sight in France behind the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.
Hence getting up early to beat the crowds, which we surprisingly did. In fact we walked through the gates on our own with barely a soul around, got such a shock we doubled back looking for the ticket booth only to discover there isn’t one, you only pay for the Abbey, and that’s at the top of the hill.
A steep hill, many steps, many fit monks!

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The Abbey dates back to the 10th century, with extensions in the 12th & 13th century. Defensive walls were built to protect it during the 100 Year War of the 14th century, and further works were done in the 15th, making it quite the renovator’s delight.

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A living monastery for most of its life it naturally became a prison for a time, which seems to be becoming quite a habit for the French!
The Abbey is a rabbit warren of rooms, most with glorious views, most places of prayer and contemplation, from small chapels to larger open spaces.

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It would be the coldest place in winter, draughty dark and foreboding.
Very atmospheric.
Terrific, well worth the worn souls….I mean, soles!!

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We followed winding narrow paths heading slowly back down the hill, went up the main ‘street’ filled with overpriced eateries and souvenir shops, finally heading back out to wonder at this marvel from the footbridge.

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A great stop, so happy to have finally made it, and exceeded all expectations.
A BIG tick!

Lunch, then back whence we came to the D-Day beaches, specifically Omaha Beach and the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.

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If you’ve seen ‘Saving Private Ryan’ you’ll recognise the cemetery from the opening scenes, a beautifully manicured and maintained memorial to those that fell during the Normandy conquest.
80 hectares, 9238 headstones, 1557 missing in action, 45 sets of brothers.

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A quiet, solemn reflective space which is serenely beautiful and surprisingly moving, humbling even.
Simple white identical crosses, perfectly symmetrical, leading across the lawns and towards the beach, each with the name, company and date of death, except those marking unknown soldiers.

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The Americans can be overly sentimental but this is beautifully done, dignified yet powerful, simple but strong, honouring and respecting the memories with uncharacteristic restraint.

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We spent over two hours looking through the memorial museum then just wandering around the cemetery reading names, places and dates.

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A very emotional space overlooking one of the landing beaches it all started from.
Once again if you’ve seen Private Ryan you would NOT recognise the beach, filled with scene after scene of destruction, terror and horror… now a beautiful sandy oasis.

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Surprisingly big, about 4 kms long and with tides it’s just a lovely beach and on a very hot day filled with people sun baking and swimming.
It makes it hard to imagine the horrors of that day 71 years ago.

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Up on the hill is an old battlement position or two left as permanent, crumbling reminders.
Another of the landing spots is Utah Beach which we drove to next, about 30 minutes north, which has a monument and tribute to the naval contribution.
Unless you were a military buff probably not a lot to see here, so just a short stop for us before heading back to Bayeux after a solid 12 hours on the hustings.
A most rewarding day, absolutely fabulous.

Impressionable Tapestry!

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Yesterday was ‘rancho relaxo’, and other than a bit of driving, so is today!
We are off to Bayeux, near the D-Day beaches, pretty much west of Chartres but to get there we first head north about 100kms…only a slight detour, to visit the most famous small garden in France, Monet’s Garden in the hamlet of Giverny.

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Claude Monet, one of the leading Impressionist artists of his era, lived most of his life in a little farm house surrounded by glorious gardens in a tiny little village, inspired by its beauty to present the world with masterpieces such as his water lilies paintings.
This joint sure is popular, it was packed and only about 10.30 am! Another couple struggling through the throng told us it was the most crowded attraction they had encountered on their holiday, and that included Versailles!

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Which incidentally was why we chose to come here, our other choice was Versailles but the horror stories of ‘selfie-stick’ hoards put us off.
It wasn’t too bad, just needed the tour groups to get ahead, as they cram so much into the day they can’t hang around anywhere too long.

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The water gardens, including the lilies, are the most popular with millions of photos taken every hour.
We battled the crowds which can and went in waves, including half a dozen school groups all looking soooo excited to be there, and managed to have a few moments not knee deep in crowds to enjoy the lovely scenes before us.

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The house was ho-hum, but the grounds are truly spectacular, and more than worth the detour.
Onward to Bayeux, which other than being a great place to base yourself for the D-Day beaches, is home to the most famous tapestry in the world.

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You can imagine Rachael’s excitement when I told her this, then reminded her of this, then repeatedly told her about this.
That we were going to see this!!
This was too exciting for Rachael…..and she continually reminded me….for this!!
Nevertheless, guess what we did first upon reaching Bayeux?
Photos don’t do justice to the magnificence of the Tapestry, which is luck ‘cos photos aren’t allowed
….needless to say, it was pretty bloody impressive
….if I don’t say myself! Here’s a small sample courtesy of google images.

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The Bayeux tapestry is over 1000 years old, runs to 70 metres long and tells the story, in intricate detail, of William the Conqueror’s successful battle of Hastings and his ascent to the throne of England.
Luckily, we joined the museum at precisely the same time as two school groups, plus a couple of cranky yanks, which was great as you walk slowly around the tapestry listening to an audiobook which follows the story, without breaks to take your time.
Like lemmings to the cliff we lurched along, shuffling in time with 100 bored 12 year olds all wishing they were anywhere but here, all the while straining to see the tapestry in all its glory….because it is pretty bloody amazing.
Even Rachael was impressed!
Maybe not as impressive as a cold beer, but pretty damn fine!
Seriously, this is a cultural iconic art piece, beautifully displayed, and well worth thirty minutes of your time.
We actually hung around for a bit longer!

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To calm our excitement we headed to the Cathedral, surprisingly on prime real estate!
An impressive structure, a lovely old church which luckily survived the Second World War unscathed.
Art, Culture & Religion all covered today, time for a beer and dinner.

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Very excited about tomorrow, finally get to see Mont St. Michel.

Finally a Rest Day

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The plan for today was to get up early and drive to Giverny, which is famous for Monet’s garden. However, with a midnight finish we decided to postpone Giverny and spend the day in Chartres, an unplanned, but much needed rest day.

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Having already organised with out hosts to have breakfast at 8am the chance of a sleep in went begging. Our hosts, Anna and Francois are a delightful couple with 2 young children who speak both French and Italian, but only a little English. This made for some interesting conversations throughout our stay where the use of many hand movements and a French or Italian accent to kid ourselves it helped with our conversation!!!

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For the most part of the day we walked and walked around Chartres taking in the sights and all this town has to offer. By the third lap we had both agreed that everything there is to see in Chartres we had well and truly seen.

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A quick bite to eat and a visit back to the Cathedral for a few final snaps before heading back to our room to put our feet up and relax for a couple of hours. Whilst I managed to punch our some zzzzz’s, Hugh spent his time finessing his photos and writing the Blog.
Feeling suitably refreshed we headed back out to hit the shops, as most of them do not open until 2pm. Not much success but we did find Hugh a shirt that was 40% off so that ticked all of his requirements.

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We had organised with our hosts to meet up at 6pm to ‘converse’ over a bottle of local organic wine accompanied by some lovely local produce. The conversation managed to flow ok with the occasional help of the iPhone.

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We were fortunate enough to see the cave that lies underneath their home, and we were the first guests in which they had allowed down to see this. There were two caves, one directly under the house and the other only recently discovered which runs back behind the house and down another 11 metres. Francois hasn’t yet ventured down the tunnel to see where it leads, but we put in our claim for half of the treasures found down there.

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All musty and damp, it was a fascinating little tour into the history of the old buildings of this town, and a great honour bestowed upon us by Francois.
Dinner was planned across the road at 7:30pm and the children were getting hungry so we parted ways to get organised. We had a lovely dinner of typical French cuisine which was a great way to finish out stay in Chartres.

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Too tired to see the Cathedral light up again, we headed home, glad for the relaxing day as the next few days are anything but.

Onward to Chartres

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Pack up time again, and with a leisurely trip of about 170kms to Chartres ahead of us, we were in no hurry to leave Amboise.

Breakfast followed by coffee and croissant at the patisserie and a last look around town, including a visit to Clos Luce, the last residence of Leonardo Di Vinci.

I previously mentioned Di Vinci’s influence over this town, and no where is it more evident than at this stately manor.

Initially we thought we’d just look around from the road, but the 10 foot high stonewall put paid to that theory, so in we went to check it out.

Leonardo’s influence doesn’t come cheap, €14 is at the high end, even for France, but when will we be back?

Once again, a decision vindicated!

We had a great time wandering around for an hour or two, going through the main villa with plenty of information on Di Vinci’s phenomenal talents, especially in the field of engineering.

Model tanks imagined five hundred years early, machine guns, draw bridges and parachutes, gliders and powered bikes.

Incredible detail, outrageous mind, crazy imagination.

Leonardo himself regretted spending so much time on drafting and not enough on painting, but with a huge brain tumbling out thoughts and ideas at the rate he did, not sure he had enough time for anything.

The villa gives way to a beautiful garden filled with lakes, streams and out buildings, including a very impressive Tudor manor set deep in the corner, and home to a restaurant, a very expensive one at that.

Great stuff!

When I first read about this place months ago I envisaged a modest villa in the streets of Amboise, not a princely manor on a few hectares behind a vast stone wall.

Well worth the visit.

Now, off to Chartres, home of the most revered Gothic Cathedral’s in France.

The drive was uneventful, flat plains given over to wheat crops mainly, interspersed with small villages, and plenty of roundabouts!

We got to Chartres mid afternoon, and after settling into our abode for the next two nights, and parking the car in the underground park we headed to the most obvious sight in town, the Cathedral.

The Catholics certainly knew how to appropriate the best land in town, with this huge colossal structure completely dominating the town from the top of the hill.

Twin spires hurtle skywards, threatening air traffic, massive walls block out the sun and the ominous eyes of hundreds of long gone religious deities stare down from their effigies housed all around.

Mighty impressive….

Can’t wait to get inside….

to see scaffolding….everywhere!

Oh, dear!

Chartres Cathedral is in the middle of a complete internal restoration, and the finished parts look amazing. The contrast between new and old is incredible, from dark gloomy corners with faint light peering through the stained glass, to a kaleidoscope of colour radiating down from the glass to the beautiful clean walls, highlighting all the intricate shapes and patterns of the past 900 years.

The Cathedral was built in the 12th century so it’s probably due for a spring clean, and for once we didn’t begrudge the limited view due to massive scaffolding.

When this work is completed this Cathedral will be spectacular, not that it isn’t now.

The Sagrada Familia has set the bar very high for us and this is almost it’s equal, the sheer volume of the place, and the magnificent stain glass which soars high up the walls is breathtakingly beautiful.

We walked around for a time before hunger kicked in and we found a quaint little restaurant opposite our B&B and settled in with a beer and salami platter.

The Cathedral is famous for its nightly light show which starts at dusk, but before that there was a performance of Mozart’s Requiem inside which we attended.

Amazing acoustics! Beautiful music.

The light show started at about 10.30 and ran for about 20 minutes on a loop till midnight…a very spectacular way to highlight the church.

We’ll be back tomorrow night to see it from a different angle.

A Chateau kind of Day

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The Loire Valley is famous for its Chateau, so what better way to spend a day than visiting some?

Breakfast at the apartment then into town to get a coffee, which wasn’t bad. Cool little patisserie that will get more of our Euro’s before we leave here.

Our first visit is to the largest and most popular, Chateau Chambord, about one hour from Amboise up the river.

You enter down a long boulevard flanked by forest before opening up to glimpses of what was to come.

This is one impressive structure, huge by any measure. It dominates the horizon surrounded by water, manicured gardens and 5,400 hectares of forest, all enclosed by 34kms of stone wall.

Super impressive inside and out, this Chateau is regarded as the international symbol of French Renaissance and is the most visited of all the Loire palaces.

Tick!

Second visit was about 50 minutes away down some interesting single lane roads, encroached on by fields of maze, wheat, and corn, and in one spot the most beautiful meadow of sunflowers you would ever dream of.

Stop, multiple photos, then off to the slightly more modest, yet no less impressive, Chateau de Chenonceau.

Once again set in beautiful gardens with plenty of water around, this 16th century treasure was built for King Henri II who donated it to his “favourite lady” but surprisingly upon his death his widow, Catherine de Medici, took it back!!

The arches over the water are supposedly inspired by the Ponte e Vecchio in Florence, birth place of Madame!

Another beautiful place, well worth the admission price.

Twenty minutes back to Amboise for a quick regroup, then maybe a glass of rosé before tackling the third of our castles for the day, Chateau D’Amboise.

Of all the Chateau today this was the one with the least fanfare not having the same imposing presence as the other two.

Set in the middle of town up on the hill it doesn’t shout “wow”, but once you get inside the walls it’s actually pretty good…no really good.

The Buildings hug the walls and the rest is taken over by lovely gardens and grassed areas.

Probably its biggest claim to fame is that it’s the last resting place of Leonardo Di Vinci, who lived his final three years in Amboise and was entombed at the St Florentin church in the Chateau grounds.

The church was demolished in 1806, oblivious to the tourist dollar, and his bones were transferred to the St Hubert’s Chapel in 1871 set on the edge of the stone wall, high above the town. A statue of Di Vinci marks his original burial spot.

Leonardo does tend to dominate thoughts down at tourism central, but more of that later!

The highlight of a wonderful visit was a parade of colourful costumed characters, who were most generous with their photographic time, making the most of the scenic vantage points.

We weren’t sure if we just lucked upon this display, or whether it was a regular gig, but impressive it was.

Poor Rachael, dying of hunger while I ran around taking way too many photos, just hoping one or two will work out!

Finally we leave what was a terrific finish to Chateau day.

Nothing more for it than to go to the fancy chocolatier for dessert purchases, then head back for a home cooked meal, and a glass or two of excellent local wine, and call it a night after a very busy day.


All Chateau’d out!

The Loire Valley

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One of the many up sides of staying at the Abbey was the sleep in and the sumptuous breakfast.

Most of the food prepared at the hotel is locally sourced. Very local!

Having indulged in both we set off once again with a walk around the Abbey in daylight, and yes, more photos of Richard the Lion Heart, where does the infatuation end??

With Hugh back in the drivers seat, phew, we headed of to a quaint village in the Loire Valley called Saumur. It was a quick stop to take a photo of one of the many Chateau’s which of course had scaffolding around the front due to renovations. Photo duly taken we jumped back in the car and headed to our next stop, Chinon.

This little village is home to the Chateau Royale Chinon which we took the time to visit, despite the temperature now reaching into the 30’s……

The chateau at Chinon is aimed a bit at kids, with lots of interactive stuff going on, plus plenty of reference to King Arthur….who I thought was English!

None the less, let’s push on, shall we.

Another claim is that this Chateau was the inspiration for the French castle scene in Monty Pythons ‘Holy Grail’ movie.

“I’m French! Why do you think I have this outrageous accent, you silly king”

“I don’t want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough whopper! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries”

“You don’t frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur-king, you and all your silly English kaniggets”.
Any excuse to revisit The Holy Grail! (Hugh)

Onwards we travel to our final destination, Amboise, a beautiful part of the Loire Valley, which we would be spending the next 2 nights in. Once again, Hugh has outdone himself with his choice of accommodation. A fabulous apartment in the old town of Amboise, the only down side, no fan or air conditioning and the temperature was now in the mid 30’s and it was hot, damn hot.

Not to be deterred, we headed into town to have a look around and as is always our want, we found a nice little bar to quench our thirst with a beer and read up on the local culture. Having spent quite the small fortune at the Abbey it was back to eating in at our apartment over a lovely bottle of red we had bought in Bordeaux.

As we headed back out for a walk around town after dinner, accompanied by the must have Gelato, we planned our day for tomorrow. With bedtime looming, the heat not abating, no cool breeze to be felt and the fact our bedroom was on the second floor of the apartment, we were not looking forward to what we knew would be a most uncomfortable nights sleep!!

On to the Loire, with a slight detour.

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It’s time to move on from Bordeaux, which has been excellent and would have benefitted from an extra day or two….so little time, so much to see!

We’re off to the Loire Valley for the next few days, with our first night in the 11th century L’Abbeye Fontevraud, but before that a slight detour, of about 120kms, to a tiny village in the middle of nowhere.

Sometimes you see or hear of a place and just have to see it, and this place we are off to meets the criteria, and luckily we are within the vicinity.  We saw a small feature on this small village on the weekend news a few months ago, had a friend also mention it when she heard where we were going, and the intrigue got the better of us.

The village of Oradour-Sur-Glade is described on the signs as the ‘martyred village’ and is the result of a morning of murderous bastardry inflicted upon this little town in June 1944.  On June 10th, 1944, those nasty bunch of fuckers (*), the SS marched into town, rounded up the village, herding the women and children into the church whilst marshalling the men into the town square….and murdered the lot!

The church was filled with grenades and machine gun fire, and the square sang with the sound of bullets.  Minutes later over 630 were dead, and all because the SS thought the French resistance in the town was responsible for activity leading up to, and following, the D-day landings.

After the war it was decided to leave the village as is, as a permanent reminder of the horrors of war, and as a tribute to those that lost there lives on that terrifying day. It’s quite an eerie place to visit, all very hushed and respectful, a small education centre set before it to try to make sense of it all, and street after street of solitude and decay. Tumbling down buildings, rusting cars left where they stood on the day, sewing machines in position for thread that never got needled.

Tram lines leading to nowhere,  A child’s pram. The church…..

Very somber reminder of the mindless brutality, and lack of humanity that pervades during war….or just of how evil, and brainwashed by illogical ideology the SS were. Maybe not one for the highlight reel, but a sobering reality for times past, and hopefully not a glimpse into the future!

Time to lighten up, and what better way than to let Rachael loose on French roads…her first drive of the holiday!

Cue Rachael….. It’s amazing how your sense of spatial awareness quickly leaves you when your driving on the wrong side of the road. The lanes are the same width, generally, the car is the same size, generally, and I have been driving for over 25 years, so why is it so bloody difficult to stay out of the gutter???

I quickly got the hang of the gear stick being on the right hand side and managed to navigate my way through and around many trucks which seemed to favour the road we were driving today. Despite cuddling one gutter a little too closely we arrived at the L’Abbeye Fontevraud in one piece with Hugh’s fingernails slightly closer to his cuticles.

The Abbey was built in the 11th century, was the burial place of the last of the Plantagenet clan, of English Royal family fame, including Richard the Lionheart famous for many a B-grade medieval movie classic!  

It’s a magical place, the stuff of dreams and ours for the night!   We have been looking forward to this night since Hugh booked it many months ago. To stay somewhere of the equivalent in Melbourne would cost twice as much as would the dinner that accompanied our stay.

With too many options on the menu to choose from we opted for the Degustation menu with matching wines. Suffice to say we had the most amazing food and wine to match and the accommodation lived up to our expectations.  

We had the Abbey at our disposal for 24 hours and took advantage of wandering around after dinner to capture the Abbey in its wonderment at night.

A few hundred photos of Richard the Lionheart (*2) later and me asleep on the bench, Hugh had finally given the nod for us to retire.

If you ever pass through the Loire Valley do yourself a favour and stay over at the L’Abbeye Fontevraud, it is an experience Hugh and I will never forget and worth every cent we paid for it.

(*) sorry Brendan, €1 in the jar!!

(*2) sorry Dick, Rachael has no respect!

St Emillion

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Breakfast on the balcony, day two of no croissants which is slightly ridiculous as we are in croissant territory yet here we are abstaining!

We pick up our new wheels this morning which normally involves spending forever searching for the car rental place….sure enough.
Finally, no where near the address supplied, we stumble upon Hertz to take custody of a Renault Captur diesel.

Up selling is an art form at car rentals, and our maestro behind the counter didn’t disappoint, offering a manual GPS for a mere €16 per day extra, all the while failing to explain that the car comes with a GPS built in!

…..we have our own Navman, thank you very much!
Finally off to the famous Bordeaux region of St Emillion, which is about 70 kms away along mainly boring freeways.
Speaking of GPS, you’ve got to love it when you set it for ‘fastest time’ and you end up on tiny laneways leading presumably to nowhere, then out pops your destination.


45 minutes later we arrive at the beautiful, historic, world heritage listed village of St Emillion, set high on the hill overlooking the vineyard scene spread out before it. The cathedral spire takes centre stage soaring high over the village seeking out the sun, and all around are cobblestone lanes snaking down the hill.


Can’t get enough of a good cobblestone lane, even if it’s murder on your feet.

The main activity for our day was two Chateau visits, but not before Rachael visited a quaint little boutique down one of those laneways filled with fine French clothes…dutiful purchased.
Our first Chateau was near the village, and poor old Google maps kept sending us back into the village whilst we were trying to second guess it by heading out.

Strike one to Google, our Chateau was in the village, a nondescript door fronting an old manor right on the main road in. The stately building opened up behind to a lovely courtyard with surrounding outhouses which we soon discovered were the winery and cellar.

Chateau Gaudet is run by fourth generation owner Guy-Petrus, a very very famous name in the wine world, Petrus being the most prestigious label with astronomical pricing attracted. That’s per bottle, folks!


Sadly for Guy, he doesn’t own the winery just the name, not that that stopped him letting us all know about it!

We shared our tour with a couple from Mexico, and started with a history lesson on the estate, then went thru the tiny winery and barrel room before a venture down into the caves, a rabbit warren of tunnels filled with back vintage wines, plus Guy-Petrus’s own private cellar with all sorts of goodies. He made special attention of this room, “no photos please”, as it has some very expensive wines including a case or two of Petrus.


We finished with a small tasting of two wines, then the hard sell!

Purchase time, and at only €60 per bottle or thereabouts.

The wines were good, they are Grand Crus which is the highest appellation, organic, etc etc, but a little out of our quaffing budget.

We wanted something as a momento so bought a bottle of the 2012 to drink one year on our wedding anniversary but sorry Guy-Petrus, maybe not a case delivered home this time.

The tour was good fun, the caves great and wines history very interesting, so a worthwhile visit.


The next tour at Chateau Cantenac was a little out of town, and conducted by the daughter-in-law of the owner, who happened to be American, AJ.

AJ had come to the Chateau on an internship a few years prior, met the son, married him and stayed.

She made an excellent guide to a wonderful little winery of 15 hectares, showing us through the winery, barrel rooms and cellar all the while explaining their philosophy, the ‘terroir’ of the estate and the differing grapes used, wine styles, etc.


After a while you get used to the patter of the wine tour, but we still found useful information to take away.

Not being ‘grand cru’ wines at the top of the appellation, the wines don’t command the same pricing, and so were very attractively priced for such excellent quality.

We tried four wines, bought three to carry around, and would have got more if customs would let us!

Back to the village for another look around, then a drive through the vineyards just drifting around.

We found the estate of the first bottle of Bordeaux I ever bought (one of not many!) so stopped for a quick look.


One feature of the area is the low stone walls that border the estates and roads, very distinctive but treacherous to navigate, especially when oncoming traffic occurs.


By now it was 7pm, so time to head back to Bordeaux for dinner and a last look around.

More salad on the balcony, more photos of the palace, then a last drink at the bar across the road before bed.


A long, but fruitful day.