None of us had a brilliant night's sleep, unfortunately, but we were up and getting ready to have breakfast in the hotel by 8am. I went outside to look at the gorgeous view and the fields were covered in mist. It's definitely the "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness."
We walked over to the hotel for breakfast and Mathieu put us in a separate room from the others. I was tempted to have a joke about Brexit, but decided not to! The other guests were a mixture of French, German and Spanish but there was an American couple as well, and I recognised a few of the guests from the restaurant last night.
Breakfast was wonderful, and certainly not the typical French breakfasts I've had in the past where you get a croissant, a slice of baguette and some jam! We had a choice of breads, pastries, cereals, hams and cheeses and hot items such as sausages and scrambled eggs. The coffee was lovely and I had several cups! I would love to come back and stay here for longer and thoroughly explore this area again.
Our table overlooked the pool area and the fields beyond and the meal set us up for the day. After we'd eaten we finished packing and then reluctantly said goodbye. Mathieu had been great and he was an excellent host.
Our goal today was the Loire town of Amboise and I needed both Trish and Keith to get us there. We set off and although I'd seen a sign for the A20 in L'Hospitalet, Trish had other ideas... we set off onto a beautiful wooded and hilly road, the D673, glad to see the sun shining and the sky blue.
There was not another car about and the road was lovely with fabulous views. Trish was giving me instructions and Keith was checking on our map, but it was so large he couldn't see the tiny roads she was directing me onto! We blindly put our faith in her, but at one point, when we were in the middle of nowhere and the roads were just a single track, I did stop the car and demand to see where we were! I had a fear of meeting a huge tractor and having to back up. Although the road wasn't as hilly as the one we were on in Spain, there were some drops into the fields on one side of me and going off the road would have been enough to give us a lot of problems!
Keith and Sophie thought I was being dramatic, and I wish now I'd been able to relax as the road itself was stunning. At one point we came around a corner and saw a huge bird of prey sitting on a pile of logs. I slowed down and he flew off, but it was wonderful to see. The countryside was so beautiful, I could easily have moved here to live permanently!
Luckily, I never met another vehicle and soon we were joining the A20 up to Limoges. The traffic was still light and every now and again we'd round the bend in the road and see the gorgeous countryside filled with delicate mist, the Autumn trees glowing in the morning sun.
Once past Limoges (which was busy), we headed for Chateauroux and then turned off the autoroute onto the D943 towards Tours. We had no choice but to go on this road and I was dreading meeting something slow. At first, all was OK, and then a convoy of us met a car driving very slowly, so we all had to overtake. The road was lovely and straight and I got past, but I did panic a bit, so in future, I will need to put the automatic gear into manual and accelerate like that! Phew!
For the rest of the journey, the traffic was almost non-existent, and after about an hour we could see signs for Amboise. Our Airbnb was supposedly a few minutes' walk from the centre of Amboise, and we drove past first before realising. I turned around and followed the instructions of where to park and how to get in.
Once inside we dumped our overnight bags, put the food and drinks we'd brought with us into the fridge, and set off for the town centre. We all fancied a bite to eat and a cold beer!
It was a lovely, warm afternoon and the sun was shining. After taking a wrong turn we found our way to the centre of the town and the shops, bars and restaurants near the chateau. We recognised this area from our visit in 2009 and we were soon seated at a bar and awaiting three cold beers! Lovely!
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| Making the most of it while we could! |
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| The main street, lined with bars and restaurants |
It was heavenly to sit in the sun and enjoy people-watching. Very soon, back in the UK, it will be too cold to sit outdoors! We enjoyed a couple of beers - Sophie and I had Leffe, Keith had Jupila - and then went in search of a restaurant for dinner this evening. Previously, we had eaten at a restaurant called Le Parvis which grilled meats over an open fire. We found it easily and had a look at the menu, but I had a niggling feeling it was closed.
We hadn't had anything to eat at the bar as we didn't want to ruin our appetites, so we walked to an express branch of Carrefour and bought a sandwich to share, as well as bottles of Vouvray and Montlouis, a sparkling wine we'd had at our wedding. All plans to visit a vineyard and the village of Vouvray went out of the window as we just didn't have enough time.
Back at the house, we ate our sandwiches and some crisps, and Keith and I started planning the route for tomorrow. We had to go via Rouen and when I put the directions into Google maps it flashed up a warning about the crit'air sticker we would need as the road went through the centre of the city. This was not good news as we didn't have one so we had to look at an alternative route, and we eventually decided to go up to Le Havre and then take the coastal motorway to Calais.
We all changed and got ready to go out and walked back to the bar we'd had a drink in earlier. People were now wrapped up warmly and wearing boots, coats and scarves and the temperature had definitely dropped. It was very Autumnal and I envied the locals and their warm clothes! I hadn't even bought a coat with me!
We sat in the bar and Sophie had an Aperol Spritz, Keith had a large beer (expensive at 6 euros) while I had a glass of sparkling Vouvray. Overhead we saw many vapour trails in the blue sky so this area must be on one of the flight paths to the south. Some of the planes were very high up in the sky and I wondered where they were going.
After our drinks, we went in search of sustenance! Unfortunately, Le Parvis was indeed closed and there was no sign of life indoors, even though it was a Friday night. Instead, we tried La Terrasse and were warmly welcomed into the lovely restaurant and given menus. The staff didn't speak much English, which was fine, but we all muddled through and our choices were: goats' cheese clafoutis for me to start, followed by pork belly. Keith chose Bruschetta to start and then lamb, while Sophie enjoyed beef pastrami and beef cheeks. The food was very good, we were given plenty of bread and Sophie and I drank a pitcher of local red wine to accompany our meal.
Sophie and I found room for puds - a moist strawberry cake for me and a chocolate mousse. Keith sat and savoured a Cognac. It was the most expensive meal of the holiday at 143 euros, but the food, staff and ambience were lovely and we had no complaints. The restaurant had gradually filled up while we were eating and some people were dining in the area upstairs which looked lovely and cosy.
It was a five-minute walk back to the house (we found a shortcut) and then it was time to relax for half an hour before bed. Sophie and I watched the French equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing, followed by a property show featuring first-time buyers purchasing apartments in some of France's biggest cities. One single woman had 800,000 euros to spend on an apartment in Paris!
At about 10pm we retired for the night. Homeward bound tomorrow!
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