After a relaxing 6 days or so it was time to get serious and realise we’re not here to relax and we needed to get moving!  The first, of many long driving days to come, helped us remember the subtleties of European driving such as, using your hazard lights to say something like, “I’m breaking the law here, but I’m owning up to it so it doesn’t count…”, rather than in Australia where you may be saying, “please don’t honk at me, I’m already embarassed enough, my fuel tank’s empty, I was waiting for my next youth allowance payment and prioritised beer over petrol…”  Of course I’m too scared to use the hazard button, having it drilled into me from a very early age, until my late teens, that it was in fact the ejector seat button.

Our first location in the Loire (or rather, beside the Loire), was the highly recommended town of Amboise, and a highly recommended B&B. We stayed in a stunningly renovated, ~million or so year old house run by the Americo equivalent of the Fawltys…had the Fawltys continued to stay married into their old age and had Basil completely chilled out.  The eccentric lady of the house was more than happy to send her husband off to run around fetching James more wine as he lit fires all over the place (the fireplace that is), so it worked out pretty well!

The other guests in the house were also good for a few laughs (although keeping the other guests from hearing our laughs was quite a challenge).  Perhaps the plastic covers under the sheets might give you an indication of the target market (not toddlers)…old Americains.  The one day I caved-in to a request from Lea to wear my boots, we sat next to a lovely couple from Seattle who proceded to tell us how much they hated Texas…kicking off an interesting debate about boots, electric cars, awful coffee, Frasier and how generally unfairly they are treated around their travels.  We were tempted to let them in on the trick to identify as Aussies.  But, didn’t, instead.

Much of our time was spent looking through the amazing Chateaux in the area, Chambord and Chiverny first, but then there was one that completely Chateau’d all over the others, Chenonceau, and not just because of cave au vin.  James’ tested recipe for making any Chateau better is to just add water.  We also saw Clos de Lucé, where da Vinci spent his final years, and learned that Leo was actually a vegetarian!  We were completely suprised as we’d always thought he liked a sausage from time to time.  And we had some awesome dinners at the recommendation of our helpful hosts, including one where James had foie gras three ways…I guess a ménage à trois à foie gras, as tasty as it sounds…the poor goose probably had it worse though.

We drove along the banks of the river, tasting wine in a real cave in a real mountain, eating cheese and drinking wine in the vines by a Chateau looking over the Loire and the town of Saumur, exploring the homes of the troglodytes and admiring the very well fenced off, yet still radiant, nuclear plants as they added something extra to the terroir (I would say a little je ne sais quoi to to the terroir, but used the same joke for a graveyard this time last year) of the vines that were right next door.  That’s French confidence, but I guess they’ve been doing it that way for millenia.

Our time in the valley ended with a night in Angers, next stop Normandy!