Well, the day we knew would come finally arrived: time for us all to leave Le Veiux Manoir and split up from our friends for further travels. All of us have been worried about our family and friends back home in the wake of Hurricane Matthew which passed so close to Palm Beach County while we’ve been having such a good time in France. Sherye and Jack, Linda and Andy, would return to Paris for their flights home to Florida, to see what happened back home. Lynn and I would stay in France for two more weeks, heading to a rental house in Burgundy…we’ll find out the hurricane results later, it appears. First step today: one last incredible breakfast at Le Veiux Manor…Gloria’s breakfast hospitality exceeds anything we’re likely to ever encounter again! Heartfelt goodbyes all around, then time to travel.
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| Farewell group portrait by Bob, Le Vieux Manoir |
Next order of business: dropping Jack/Sherye & Andy/Linda off at the station in Tours (Le Gare) for their trip to Paris on the TGV “bullet train”. The luggage for four people, plus 5 humans, just fit in our rental car. A one-half hour drive to Tours, plus navigating a tricky set of inner-city turns and twists, got us to Le Gare in plenty of time. This has been such a great week traveling together with our dear friends…however, I unceremoniously dumped them at the station and got out of there before running afoul of any obscure traffic laws or parking restrictions! Bon Voyage buddies, safe travel home!
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| Toasting our last night at Le Vieux Manoir |
Lynn remained behind finishing up at Le Vieux Manoir, and visiting the smaller version of the twice-weekly market in centre ville. Although she didn't buy much of anything, she soaked up some last bits of Amboise local color.
I returned from Tours this last time to Amboise. We loaded up our stuff, careful to include the bicycle and its case, said our farewells to Gloria and Bob, then headed out for Auxerres…our one night stopover before going to our rental home in Villers-la-Faye deep in Burgundy. This was a return to our usual mode of travel: no particular schedule or agenda, just an eventual destination with time to soak up whatever scenery or opportunities came our way on the journey. Our drive was uneventful and beautiful…and expensive!!! We drove almost all the way to Auxerre on “A” roads, which almost always means they are toll roads. When we finally got off the highway, our toll was 33 Euro: about $37!!! Yikes! It was worth it I guess: excellent roads, very uncrowded (at these prices who can afford to use them?) and the safest drivers I’ve seen, with both hands on the wheel at all times, strict adherence to rules of the road, no cell phones, texting, or other idiocy going on while driving. Safe passage is worth something.
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| Auxerre cathedral |
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| Auxerre clock arch and bell tower |
Auxerre was/is a beautiful ancient city on the River L’Yonne, which has historically furnished boat and barge passage from Paris to the Mediterranean for trade and travel. We walked all over the town after ditching our car at the manor where Lynn rented us a room for the night. Windy, a little cold, but beautiful. We went in a small antiques shop by the big cathedral, and found some antique postcard photos of an older antiques shop. The guy working inside explained that the photo had been HIS antique shop 30 years earlier, and told us where to find the old building near the river, with a huge statute of St. Nicholas on the exterior wall. After getting a delightful and courteous lesson from the lovely lady working the cash register on the difference in pronunciation between “L’Yonne" and “Lyon” (which had been messing us up in asking directions earlier), we headed out again.
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| High atop the bridge on the River L'Yonne at Auxerre |
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| Lynn with same cathedral, from the river view! |
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| My drunk chapeau-warning fishing buddy with his radio |
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| We found it: This is the same building shown in the postcard Lynn is holding, only 30+ years later |
At the Auxerre riverfront, we found the picturesque views of the town we’d hoped for. What a beautiful waterfront, with well-maintained walkways, quais, bridges, and lots of gorgeous colorful river boats tied up along the quai. We even had some fun talking to a local drunk fisherman who warned me about losing my “chapeau” to the strong wind up on the bridge. I took his advice and scrunched it down further on my head. The wind WAS gusty and cool up the bridge, but the views of the town were worth the trouble. We looked, photo’d, and headed back down to explore further. Don’t you know, we ran into the fisherman again a bit down the river…I thanked him for his advice, showed him I still had my hat, and he insisted we take his photo while he held his transistor radio. So we did, and parted fast friends. On the way back downtown, WE FOUND THE OLD ANTIQUE SHOP shown in the postcard I bought earlier today! Just where the guy told us he had his shop 30 years or so ago. It has certainly gone up-scale with the passage of time and fortune, but the statute of St. Nicholas still glares down at passers-by!
Auxerre’s downtown was pretty, but we got hungry, and food places had closed down for the afternoon break. We found a late lunch at a small cafe, and traced our way back to the rented room. What a pretty place: hidden behind a big steel street gate, it appeared to be an old manor under restoration, with spacious garden area behind. Our room was up a beautiful wooden staircase, with hand carved curved rail, that our host said was all original from the 1800’s. We crashed early, ready to head for Villers-la-Faye the next day.
Thanks for reading this stuff. Here's a link to more photos if you'd like to see them:
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