Loire Valley....

With the old city of Tours pretty well explored, it was time to spend a few days in the countryside along the Loire River.

Our first target was to visit one of the hundreds of wineries dotted throughout this region. The town of Vouvray is about 20km from Tours and has a winery that offers not only tasting (degustation in french) and cellar door sales but also a tour of the winery itself.

Vouvray winery cellar door building

Vouvray (Voov-ray) winery is really a co-operative of several hundred wine grape growers and winemakers. The farmers individually grow their grapes in their own vineyards, then make their own wine.

Vineyards growing directly behind and on top of Vouvray winery

All the growers grow only one variety of grapes, Chenin Blanc. Once the wine is ready, the co-op sends a selection panel to choose those wines it will take of this year's vintage to blend into the wine marketed under the "Vouvray" label.

The co-op brings in the bulk wine, blends it and then bottles the wine. Once bottled the wine is stored in caves and tunnels in the hillside directly behind the building. The total length of natural caves and man created tunnels cut out of the limestone hill is about 2.5 km.

Map of cave and tunnels in use at Vouvray

The temperature in the cave system remains a natural constant 12/13 degrees C all year. Ideal for maturing wine. The cave and tunnel network has the capacity to store 4 million bottles of wine.

Some of the 4 million bottles

Once bottled the wine is racked and turned or riddled by hand until the lees (sediment) settles to the neck of bottle.

Racked and ready for hand riddling.

There are also mechanical riddlers that replace the mind numbingly manual task of turning every bottle by hand.

The square box full of bottles is a mechanical riddler.

The carving on the wall is of Bacchus the God of Wine.

All along the the valley, not just at Vouvray, any where there are the limestone cliffs there are house and wineries built onto and into the cliff face.

Our second agenda item was to visit the Villandry Chateau and its magnificent gardens. Villandy was originally completed in 1536. By 1906 it was a ruin. A Spanish medical scientist bought the property and set about restoring the Chateau and more importantly its original Renaissance gardens. He devoted his life to the scientific research and study of the renaissance period buildings and gardens to create an authentic restoration. The family still own, live in and run the Chateau keeping faithfully to the 16th century principles of gardening.

The Chateau itself is quite modest and by French standards quite unpretentious. There are some spectacular sites inside like this 16th century bed fit for a King.
There is also the highly adorned "Mudejar's" ceiling worthy of mention. This type of ceiling is very common in Moorish architecture like that of the Alhambra Palace we visited in Granada a few years ago. The room is fully lined on the walls with gold drapes.

Climbing to the top of the Keep Tower we are presented with a most amazing view of the different sections of the huge gardens.

The Ornamental Garden (above) of trimmed box hedges, toparies and flowering annuals. The pattens are not just geometric. The diffent shapes in each square have symbolic meanings. The square in the bottom right hand corner of the photo above is "passionate love". The square above it is "tender love" (note the heart shapes). Such attention to detail.

The heart motif of the garden is replicated in the balustrade of the grapevine covered garden terrace.

The view of the garden and Chateau from the garden terrace walkway

The largest garden of all is the Vegetable garden covering 1.2ha. Replanted twice a year on a three year crop rotation system. In amongst the vegetables are prolific standard roses.

Overview of Vegetable Garden

Close Up a small section

The view back to Chateau from the other end of Vegetable Garden

Can you think of better spot for a wedding and wedding photos?

And so onto our third and last Loire Valley experience; Chambord Chateau. A 16th century hunting lodge that just kept growing into a 440 room Chateau.



The Chateau sits on 5440 ha of park which is fully walled.


The central stone spiral stair case was designed by Leonardo Di Vinci.


Construction commenced in the renaissance period of 1500s and continued off and on for a few centries. Chambord was really designed to be a big country house where the royals and their favorites could relax and hunt, rather than a Palace like Versailles.

Not a bad shack in the country

The building is a government owned and run institution.

The interior to day is fairly empty and stark .There is some restored decorations like the...

King's Bed Chamber

and the Queen's Bed Chamber.

The hunting trophies (what the French call the Trophies of the Chase) adorn a long gallery.




In some rooms the vaulted ceilings are carved with motifs of the King at that particular stage of contruction.


There are matching external spiralled stair cases providing access to each floor on the wings of the building.

But the real action is on the roof. Have you ever seen so many different towers, chimneys, ornaments and do-dads. It looks like every architect that worked on the project decided they had their own bit of decoration. Take a look at these photos and you will see what we mean.

Lantern Tower directly above the central spiral staircase

Notice that the facade of the building is rather plain compared to the roof.

After visiting a winery and two major Chateaux (not all on the one day) we are having a great time.

Now you know what you are looking for these Chateau places are everywhere dotted in the countryside making for sudden stops for photo opportunities.

And sometimes Jenelle just has to do the best she can out the passengers window with the camera set on "Sport".


And sometimes we have no idea what we took a photo of or where.

But it is very French; Oui!!

Tours...

After six nights in Rennes it is time to say goodbye to Brittany and head for Tours (surprising pronounced in french as Tours, as in bus tours)

We shun the easy, fast drive from Rennes to Tours via the motorway and opt instead for the scenic route. We head south from Rennes to Angers where we meet up with the Loire River. From Angers, the Loire still has a few hundred more kilometers to run to it's mouth on the Atlantic coast of France. The Loire is the longest river in France at just over 1000km and drains a fifth of all the French mainland.

At Angers we get on to a road that follows the Loire upstream all the way to Tours. This drive is very scenic with villages and towns dotted along the banks every 5 or 10km.

We stop at a few river side parks to get a closer look at the river and to have a cuppa. The Loire is wide, shallow and very fast flowing. The river level must be low because there are sand banks showing everywhere.

We expected to see a lot of river traffic but the only notable craft we saw was a very rough looking barge. In fact we never see any real river traffic on the Loire during our stay expect for a few canoes or kayaks. Very odd on such a big river.

As you would expect for such a large river in this region there are vast areas of agriculture.

Dotted along the banks are the occasion Chateau to complete the fairy tale scenery.

The most prominent Chateau we have seen so far is at the town of Saumur about 100km before Tours. The land generally has been very flat on either side of the river so it is not surprising that where the river runs close to a hill, as it does at Saumur, someone would build a Castle/Fort/Chateau. From its site atop a steep hill the Chateau has a commanding view of the river and the surrounding countryside; just what you need to defend yourself.

We arrive into Tours by mid afternoon and check into the YHA Hostel which like Rennes is only a few hundred metres from the old city quarter and the heart of the city. This hostel is five storys high more like a hotel than a hostel. The hostel's condition, particularly the bathrooms and toilets (both shared), is a bit run down and slightly dodgey. But it is safe, comfortable, clean and in a top location for touring. For about $55 per night we get bed and a filling continental breakfast. We hire a bar fridge for our room for $1 per day, and pick up high-speed, all you can eat, wifi internet connection 2 4/7 for $15 per week. We have come to realize just how important internet connection is to our way of life and enjoyment of traveling.

After breakfast the next day we hit the footpaths and lane-ways of Tours for some serious sightseeing. First item on the agenda a stroll along the banks of Loire River. The main bridge across the River is built of stone and is now named in honour of the American President Woodrow Wilson. It has had a chequered life. First the French blew up a span to slow down the German advance at the start of the WWII and then the Germans blew up a span to slow down the Allied advance at the end of war. At other times flooding in the river has damaged the bridge and in the 80s for no known reason two spans collapsed. Luckily on the day we were there it was fully operational and intact.

Just off the bank is an interesting sculpture of some giant dragonflies resting on a boat.

The Wilson Bridge leads into one of the axis of the city, Rue Nationale. The other axis is a Boulevard with a tree line median strip/park about 30m wide down the centre. Large parts of the city were bombed out during the war. This allowed some major readjustment of the streetscape to accommodate the wide main streets and boulevards.

The heart of city (where Rue Nationale and the Boulevards intersect) is a Place or Square bordered by the large grand buildings.

The architectural crowning glory of the main square has to be Hotel de Ville (City Hall)

The same architect also designed the main railway station

and the Grand Theatre.

Tours has been a major religious site almost since the time of Christ. The reason? Well, St Martin at the time a Roman soldier, gave half his cloak to a beggar who just happened to be Jesus. One thing lead to another and Martin the soldier became a Christian evangelist, then because of his good deeds, he became a Saint. (By the way Martin, the audioguide told us, has long been the most common first name for French males). St Martin was buried at Tours. A huge Bascilla was built to house his tomb. In the middle ages (5^th to 15^th centuries) Tours become the second holiest site in Christendom after Jerusalem. Tours became a major site of pilgrimage. The city grew to accommodate and service the pilgrims. Basically Tours is the city that devotion to St Martin built.

The original Basilica, in its day one of the largest building in the world, in late centuries fell into disrepair and general destruction. Finally some clever town planner knocked a good part of it down so he could put in a road. In the early part of the 20^th century a new Basilica was built for St. Martins Tomb.

and inside...

Tours as you would expect has a impressive Gothic Cathedral.

with some pretty amazing stained glass windows.

The original medieval street layout of the old Tours city remains today along with many of its original buildings. The half-timbered timber houses that have survived are seriously cute and bear testimony to the skill of the builders and the fire-fighters of Tours.

This is the smallest house in Tours. Just that tiny strip of building in the middle with arched doorway.

The main square in the old city is about 100m long on each side making for Tours an unusually neat square. The buildings on the entire square are cafes, restaurants and bars. The Square itself is filled with hundred of tables and chairs. The chairs during most of the day and night are filled with people having a good time. A sight to behold but difficult to photograph successfully.

Tours like Rennes has a university integrated into it's inner city precinct. We wonder how they keep the students in the lecture halls and out of the cafes and bars.

Another thing we have noticed here like Rennes is that there is almost a total absence of laptops being used in public places. In all our time in Tours we have seen only one man sitting in a sidewalk cafe, using a laptop. When we went downtown late one afternoon to find an Internet hotspot (unsecured wifi network) to upload our blog we were constantly stared at by the passing locals like we were freaks. There are quite a few Internet "cafes" with lots of computers but very few customers. All quite different to home.

There is very little garden space in the main city centre. At the Arts Museum we came across the gardeners hard at work trimming the intricate garden design. So that is how it is done. Later on when we walked past we could see that they were also using string lines to ensure everything was accurate. Quite amazing attention to detail.

Ok, back to the history of Tours. Tours has a great connection with Joan of Arc. It was in the Tours Chateau that Joan of Arc came to meet the soon to be King Charles VII of France (this was after her first success at leading the French troops to recapture the city of Orleans from the English. They met in the Keep of the Chateau (the big round tower on the end of the building in the photo below.

A suit of Armour was made for Joan to help keep her safe in battle. That suit of Armour was made in this building with the little suit of Armour sign to mark the spot.

We don't know why but some times we feel so close to a particular historical event or person. It is as if Joan of Arc was just here in Tours yesterday. But it has been almost 600 years since she rallied the French troops in the main (old) city square that today is filled with hundreds of diners just 200m from where we are staying. It feels quite surreal at times.

Late one evening (here, at this time of year, the sun does not set until after 10.00pm) we took a stroll to check out the spectacular lighting of the major city buildings. The effect and the photos are quite amazing.

The days are so long, we have started having a rest after lunch (just like the locals). Because the sunset is so late the hostel is quite busy and rowdy until 11.30 or midnight. In the early afternoon the place is totally quiet.

There are a whole range of street markets in Tours throughout the week. Not on the same scale as Rennes but still interesting. The flower market is held in the tree lined median strip of the main boulevard Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The roses are stunningly beautiful.

John offered to buy Jenelle some roses, but she opted for a small flower pot of basil, ready to eat.

Also on Saturday there is a flea market in one square and farmer's market in another. All markets were diligently attended.

We've been trying lots of different types of cheese, fruits and meats. Mostly our purchases have been successfully tasteful. After a week of living on what seems like a diet of baguettes and pastries, we decided it was time to have a salad of what was in the fridge which included lettuce, cucumber, raspberries, a semi mature goats cheese, a second cheese we brought at the markets in Rennes, olives, tomato (bullock's heart variety), rockmelon and fresh basil. Of course no french meal would be complete without a glass of wine and some bread. Bon appetit!

As you can imagine in a city this old there is sure to be a lot of statues. Tours statues go from the sublime

Memorial to US Forces that served in France in WWI

...to the rather strange.

Monster Statue in Place Grande Marche, designed to scare the little kids.