Day 13 - Bourdeaux - Tours

From Bourdeaux we headed through the Poutou Charentes region to the Loire Valley.  There are grape vines for as far as the eye can see and for kilometre after kilometre.  The soil is dry and rocky but the vines are lush and green.  Our main stop today was the beautiful fairytale Palace of Chenonceau, set over the Cher river.  It has an amazing history.  It was the royal palace of Henry II in 1533 where his wife Catherine de Medici lived in the first floor and his mistress, Diane de Portiers lived on the ground floor.

Bordeaux

Chenencoux castle and grounds

During the WW2 the castle was occupied by the Germans but was used by the Resistance to smuggle people across the river.  The gardens are in a geometric style with small hedges and scrolling patterns with beautiful petalled pink roses adorning the perimeter.  A huge maze would delight any child and the estate farm was magnificent. 

At night the group had an optional trip to dine in a cave which was typical of how people created their homes by digging into the rock faces.  Stuart and I decided to do all the optionals as didn't want to miss out on anything! 

We drove about 5 kilometres from Tours to the restauant called, Le Cave.  Stuart tried escargo 5small snail pieces) in a sauce of mushrooms and garlic.  Meat seems to make up the major portion of French meals and Stuart is craving his vegetables although taking the opportunity to try any interesting dish.  Tomorrow we are off to Mont St.Michel.