Amboise

Today Noel, Kathy And Richard Dropped me into town as they are all going off to the tank museum in Sumuar which is over 100kms away and I would rather tour a wind farm for more excitement. I start off at Amboise Chateau Royal. Amboise was a royal city in the 15th century. I walk up the ramp formally used by guards on foot to the terraces. From here you get amazing views of the Loire Valley and see buildings from the 15th & 16th centuries. There are two impressive cavalry towers and the sourounding gardens are lovely to walk around.

I manage to beat the tour groups and when I enter the Chateau which is where Italian tastes where introduced to the Loire and the first expression of Renaissance. It was wonderful to explore with about only six other people inside and I even managed to ditch them so I was on my own for a lot of the tour. The grounds also have Saint Huberts Chapel which has Leonardo da Vincis Tomb.

After the Chateau I went for a cafe and pastry and did very well ordering without the help of Kathy. After this I decided to walk to Clos Luce on my way I pass many of the timber front houses at the bottom of the castle which is typical of the middle ages. Clos Luce is where Leonardo da Vinci lived the last years of his life. I decided I am not a big enough fan to pay 13€ to get in so I take some pictures of the garden and residence and walk back into the centre of town.

I walk to St Floretins where in the 1470s King Louis XI used to Attend regular service. I also see the Belfry or Clock Tower which can be seen from the main shopping street. In the 15th century it was the city main gate and was turned into a belfry in 1445.

I walk down the shopping mall window shopping apart from a happy purchase of an eraser, I then decided to have lunch. I am suppressed how cheap things are. We where warned it would be expensive but today I paid 0.24€ for a bottle of water. Food is about the same as home, wine and beer is less than half the price. Again I did well odering on my own, I had the house special quiche with salad. I did much better than Noel had done. I got a text to say he ordered and toasted ham sandwich and a beer and ended up with three beers.

They text me to say they are on the way back so I decided to walk across one of the bridges across the Loire which mention can be found in medieval texts of the middle ages. The Loire was used for trade and there was several ports in Amboise. I take the popular shot of the bridge and Castle then head back where I meet Noel who drives me back to the B&B for a nap as I didn't sleep very well last night. He goes back into town to meet Kathy and Richard to explore the main street of Amboise.

I had a wonderful day on my own exploring the city at my own pace and the unrestricted view of the rooftops of Amboise where you can see the main monuments from the Chateau was amazing and I spent some time just taking it all in.

Noel, Kathy and Richard had a great time at the tank museum so they tell me and apparently it is one of the best in Europe. I know Noel would have been in his element. Kathy tells me he was like a kid in a candy shop. They saw most of the main battle tanks from WW2 and They had over 220 tanks, all the panzer versions. There where signs saying climbing on tanks forbidden however Noel manages to get on a few. Noel reckons it is the interesting museum he has seen to date.

I am sitting in my room with the door open, the weather is stunning it got to 25 today, I am over looking the most amazing garden which is like being in a park, pond included. It is 6.30 at night and it's as bright as if it where 3.00pm at home. It doesn't get dark until about 9.30-10.00pm which is great for us as we don't run out of time to do and see things.