Amboise: A Castle, Chateau & da Vinci
Beautiful Amboise
Yeah, I know that I’ve said that about EVERY city I’ve visited in France, but this one is particularly lovely. I met up with a friend in Paris, and we took the train to Amboise. We had a bit of an issue getting into our apartment, so took the opportunity to go to an underground cave for local wine and a charcuterie board while waiting for the landlord to get back to us. Yes, there is a silver lining to every cloud…
Amboise is located in the Loire Valley in central France. A market town, it was once home to the French royal court. It is a small village with a population of around 12,000 people. As we crossed the Loire River into town, we saw the Chateau at Amboise lit up, maybe to honor Breast Cancer Awareness month, but not sure. Either way, it was stunning to see.
It was once home to Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, for much of her early life, being raised at the French court of Henry II since the age of 6.
Leonardo da Vinci’s final home
Château du Clos Lucé was the residence of Leonardo da Vinci between 1516 and his death in 1519. He was buried in a crypt near the Château d’Amboise. The house has lost some of its original parts, but it still stands today containing a museum of Leonardo’s work and inventions. Pretty surreal to realize you are walking in the same rooms as da Vinci. I think we decided that he must have been an alien (the kind from outer-space) because he was so far ahead of his time.
Chateau de Chenonceau
There are 300+ chateaux dotting this charming area in the heart of France. We were only in Amboise for a few days, so had to decide which one to go see. We decided to go see the “Lady Castle,” Chateau de Chenonceau, one of the most famous in the Loire Valley. I think we made the right choice. It was breathtaking in so many ways.
For starters, this chateau is part castle/part bridge. The chateau actually bridges across the Cher River! It is known as the “Lady Castle,” for the many women who owned and made large improvements to the place. There are 7 significant women in this chateau’s history, including the first, Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of King Henry II, who gave her this castle.
It’s tough to post photos that give you a real feel for a place like this. I took a lot of pictures, but still feel like I’ve not captured the place. It is massive.
A bit of drama….of course…
The chateau is outside of Amboise by about 30 minutes, so we went to the tourism bureau to check on options to get out there. The friendly lady, who spoke English, said the best way was to take a bus. It would only cost 7 Euros, and would pick us up and drop us off close to our apartment. She gave us a schedule and a map that showed us where to catch the bus and where it would drop us off. She circled the times on the schedule for the departure/arrival times for our leaving and coming back. So, we bought tickets to the chateau and headed out to catch our 1:00pm bus, knowing that the next bus back would not be for several hours. But, there was lots to see, so we figured we could spend that much time there.
The bus ride was uneventful and it dropped us off on the main road. We walked down a paved road about a quarter of a mile, or more, to the chateau. About four hours into the tour, we had seen most of the site, and it was getting windy and cold. We decided to head back to the gift shop area to see if we could catch a car share ride back to Amboise rather than wait another two hours for the bus. But, no luck. We were far enough out of town that we were not able to get a ride. So, we walked around for a bit and headed back up to the gift shop around 5:30pm to be closer to the bus stop to catch, what we thought, would be the 6:30pm bus. Because we had to walk quite a ways back up the hill to meet the bus on the main road, we decided to give ourselves plenty of time. Every time my friend said 6:30pm, I mentioned that I thought it was coming at 6:20pm….and we were both wrong!
We were waiting in the warm gift shop, and at about 5:55pm, I checked the schedule and realized that we had been looking at the time we would actually return to Abmoise, not the time that we were to catch the bus at the chateau. The correct time to catch the bus was 6:05pm, not 6:30pm. Pure panic set it, as we watched the bus leave the parking lot of the chateau and head up to the top of the hill to wait for passengers. No idea why we couldn’t board the bus there, since it was close, but no go.
So, we set off running up the hill. I didn’t make it far (shock, I know) and told my friend to keep running and hold the bus for me. Yeah, I do a LOT of walking, but running uphill is not something I do, or even try to do. He took off, and knowing that we would be stuck there in the middle of nowhere if we didn’t get a ride, I stuck my thumb out to see if we could get a ride from someone leaving the chateau. A car stopped, and a Spanish couple, who knew no French or English, rolled down their window. I finally got through to them that we needed a ride to Amboise. They were going the opposite direction, but as they were rolling up the window, I panicked and pointed to the back seat. Not sure if they even knew for sure what I was up to as I climbed in on top luggage and clothes. They gave me a ride to the top of the hill, where my friend was waiting next to the bus. I was so happy that I hugged the lady and ran for the bus.
Yes, we made it back, and I might have actually walked to the top of the hill in the time we had, but I was not going to chance it. My friend, who is even older than I am….was not even breathing heavy when I got there. There are definitely benefits to traveling with a partner, particularly if we had gotten stuck out there and had to sleep in someone’s barn or something. Just saying….it is the French countryside.
Just for fun….
I have seen more swans in France since I’ve been here than I’ve seen in my entire life. And, I’ve never seen a baby swan (cygnet). The baby’s are beautiful, but it’s easy to see why the little Ugly Duckling was confused about who his parents might be, as the only thing they resemble of their parents is their shapes.
