We arrived in Amboise after much idiocy, with misfunctions of our own common sense, GPS nav, and credit card refusals. Never ones to despair while traveling, we marked this up to “fun incidents” and cruised into Amboise looking for our new home for 5 days: Le Vieux Manoir. It was easily found, but not easily entered with this big car. Tiny narrow street, tight narrow gate onto the grounds dating from the 16th century, and close parking inside, meant much backing and turning before safe entry was achieved. We met our hosts Gloria and Bob, American expatriates, who restored this incredibly beautiful ancient manor into a glorious bed and breakfast. Gloria kept us engaged for an hour or so, talking about politics, real estate, our origins in the States, etc. We loaded our bags into our rooms, set out for lunch at a local patisserie Gloria recommended, and studied up on the local surroundings. Great town!
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| Le Vieux Manoir from the parking area |
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| Lynn and Sherye at the breakfast enclosure in the garden |
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| John and Lynn inside Le Vieux Manoir |
Our afternoon was spent visiting with other guests under a tree in the courtyard, over (several) glasses of wine, after picking up our Palm Beach Gardens friends Andy and Linda from the Amboise train station. They flew in from Dublin where they were visiting friends, and rode the TGV bullet train and a smaller local train to meet us for the week in Amboise. The connections went smoothly, and everybody was blown away by Le Vieux Manoir. Dinner was at another local restaurant (L’Alliance) specially recommended by Gloria, who seems to know everyone in Amboise, and their reputations for quality and service! Spectacular dinner, we were satisfied for sure. A short walk back “home” and we were done for the night.
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| Lynn, Jack, Sherye: first view of the chateau and the main drag of Amboise |
Next morning was Monday, and we were rested and ready to go. First stop: breakfast here at the B&B. Holy Cow! I’ve NEVER seen a breakfast set out like this. Colorful Limoge china formal settings at each place on the courtyard patio, with artfully arranged servings of fruit and juice at each place, plus a huge assortment of breads, pastries, cereal and more. The quality and tastiness of all the food was beyond compare. We also had hot chocolate prepared “in the French way”, according to Gloria…I don't know what that means, except it involves a lot of hand work… the result was scrumptious! Best hot chocolate ever, IMHO.
After a hugely filling breakfast, I set out to re-assemble my bike from it’s suitcase, while Lynn and our friends set out to explore the town. My experience was fantastic: 1 hour of bike work for 3 more weeks of bike riding happiness! The bike went together smoothly, all gears and brakes work well, and I was on the road for the countryside in a short time. I ended up riding a miscellaneous route all over the country east of Amboise, roughly headed between the two towns of Pontlevoy and Chaumont-sur-Loire. LOTS of farm country, and at least two dense forests with warning signs about wild boar! I saw a couple of deer, that was it. Oh, AND four bike riders on a couple of Bike Friday folding tandem bicycles. I told em Hi and kept cranking!
Lynn explored the town and ended up touring the inside of this chateau with all our friends. Here they all are at an art park while touring the grounds of the Chateau at Amboise. John was on the road biking!
We all met back “home” for an afternoon nap, some cheese and wine, then headed out for a light supper pizza to cap off the day. Lots of fun stories, photos and experiences. The weather was incredibly perfect: sunny, cool for riding, warm enough for walking and enjoying the town comfortably, and no rain. Tomorrow we hope to see one or two famous chateaus here in the Loire Valley, and I hope to combine that with a bike ride, meeting up with everyone at one of the chateaus. All of this AFTER another incredible breakfast, of course! Let’s see how this goes.
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| Yes you can get fast pizza and wine near the Chateau in Amboise. It was really good...we needed a break from the big meals we'd been eating all week. |
Thanks for reading along. We are so happy to be here, especially to celebrate retirement with our wonderful friends Sherye, Jack, Linda and Andy.
Photos of the trip are all collected here if you’d like to see more:
PHOTOS LINK
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