Up early and ready, we meet Nathalie and Thierry around 8:00am, it has been 8 years since we've seen them and they look unchanged! We headed off in their car to drive to the Loire Valley for two days of visiting châteaux. We drove about 5 hours, chatting in Franglish all the way, then had a lovely lunch at a bistro in Amboise. We then headed up to the château Cheverny. They had told us that the châteaux were decorated for the holidays, but we had no idea how utterly gorgeous they would be, each with different themes in different rooms. Leonardo da Vinci has spent time here, so I got a decoration of him in the gift shop.
After Amboise, we headed to Chenonceau, where Barney and Madeleine and I had been 30 years ago. it spans the river and is a pleasure palace, not built for defense, although it served as a served conduit for Jewish citizens during WWII to get to the other side of the river and safety.
It too was decorated in the most amazing way, with a long hall of white trees spanning the river, a penguin overseeing the table in the kitchen, and a lighted jellyfish in a sitting room.
Nathalie and Thierry's daughter Margaux then met us, driving up from her university in Pontoise to meet us. We headed out into the middle of what seemed like nowhere, to a 13th-15th century manor house/chateau where we would sleep that evening. Nathalie and Thierry had stayed here early in their relationship, and it had been lovingly restored by a couple for the past 40 years.
What a delight! We felt like the lord and lady of the manor in a room so large it was about 80% the size of our house (Barney paced it off). A huge fireplace, a non-working grand piano, a beautiful four-poster baldocchino bed, a sitting area, and windows onto the interior courtyard, plus a modern bathroom. It was very special.
For dinner, we drove about 20 minutes to the only open restaurant in the area, recommended by the woman who runs the chateau. It was wonderful, attuned to the local reputation for hunting and game and area called La Sologne. We had stewed hare and beautiful desserts, no one spoke English, and I got a couple of new circle towels with the motto of the area. Back to our chateau and the enormous room for a really good night's sleep.
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