Now that we're in Lyon we have Internet access where we're staying (the McDonald's in Vichy wasn't really the best place to post from), so I'm posting a rundown of our past 6 days.
Last Friday, our last full day in Ancenis, the weather was pretty miserable and Ann wasn't feeling that great, so I
took the train into Nantes, a short 20 minute ride. Nantes is one of
France's largest cities, and was the capital of the old duchy of
Brittany before France conquered Brittany in 1488. I spent a few
hours wandering around Nantes, visiting the massive chateau palace of
the Dukes of Brittany.
On Saturday we left Ancenis for the
fairly short drive to Bourgueil in the Touraine region of the Loire
Valley. On the way we stopped at the beautiful medieval village of
Candes Saint-Martin on the Vienne River.
After checking into our hotel in
Bourgueil (La Promenade) and having lunch there, which consisted of a
large plate of charcuterie that had been made by Ludo, one of the
proprietors, we took a drive to visit Domaine de la Chevalerie.
Chevalerie is one of the finest wine producers in Bourgueil, making 5
or 6 different cuvees of Cabernet Franc wines from separate vineyard
parcels. The wines we tasted were really magnificent, as was their
ancient stone cellar beneath the property. In addition to visiting
Chevalerie, we made a brief stop to get a view of the chateau in
Ussé.
That
night we had dinner at La Promenade, which is a hangout for local
vintners and wine lovers. The next morning we headed for the Allier
department in the Auvergne, where we were going to spend 2 nights
with Cathy and Jim Baxter, British friends who have a house in
Chantelle. On the way we made a few stops, including Langeais and
Azay-le-Rideau, both of which have magnificent chateaus.
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| Langeais |
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| Azay-le-Rideau |
The
weather was iffy during our stay in Chantelle, and we spent a fair
amount of the time just sitting around with the Baxters and their
French friend Ghislaine, eating and drinking various wines from the
Loire, Saint Pourcain (the local AOC), and Burgundy, where Ghislane
lives. We also took a walk into the center of Chantelle and visited
the ancient Abbey of Chantelle, which is still in use.
After
leaving Chantelle on Tuesday morning we drove to the nearby city of
Roanne, where we planned to stay one night and return our car. On
the way we passed through magnificent countryside and stopped at a
couple of beautiful villages, including Ambierle and St. Haon le
Chatel.
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| Ambierle |
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| Curious (and safe) cat in Ambierle |
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| St. Haon le Chatel |
We
then checked into our hotel in Roanne, returned the car, and took a
walk around the center of the city. Roanne isn't a city geared to
tourism, with few hotels and restaurants, but there are some
beautiful old buildings in the center. The short time we spent there
was sufficient, but it was interesting to see a city that is
basically a working town. Unfortunately, our one chance to try a
Cote Roannaise wine (100% Gamay) was a major disappointment, as our
dinner wine was barely drinkable.
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| Rainbow over Roanne |
Wednesday
morning we walked across the street from our hotel to the train
station and took the train to Lyon, a one hour trip through some
beautiful countryside. In Lyon we were staying at an apartment near
the center of the city which we rented from Corinne, whom we had
rented from several years ago. One of the big attractions of the
apartment, in addition to its location, is the view of the basilica
of Notre Dame de Fourviere from the balcony of our 8th
floor apartment. In addition, Corinne's cat, Neko, reluctantly
agreed to pose for my blog.
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| Fourviere from our terrace |
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| Fourviere from the river |
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| Neko |
Beautiful pictures Bob! Wish we were there.
ReplyDeleteAh, Lyon. I'll never forget the foods available in the train station there. Truly a food-lover's town.
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