Nantes and then onward with a rental car

Linda getting some sun at B+B St. Ives in Nantes

Bri in Nantes with her new lavender bag I bought for her in Paris

Nantes

Dukes and Anne of Brittany chateau

Great to see Bri again in her new city

Bri and her new friend Annie in the park near the study abroad center

Bri, Annie (from Chicago), Lisa (from Boston), study abroad friends in Nantes

Looking for a restaurant for dinner with Bri, her two friends and Linda, Nantes

Amboise Royal Chateau, Loire Valley

View of royal chateau of Amboise, upon arrival after a climb up

The Royal Chateau of Amboise

The chapel at the Amboise chateau, where it is believed that Leonardo de Vinci is buried

View from chateau, Amboise

View of Royal Chateau of Amboise from the grounds

Chateau where Leonardo de Vinci lived which is very near the Royal Chateau

Entrance to the Chateau on the Cher River

The Chateau Chenonceau on the Cher River

Some of the gardens of the Chateau

More of the gardens

Linda pictured at the 16th C farm adjacent to Chateau Chenonceau

Wifi has been sporadic the last several days and then after typing up a post, it was lost while trying to get service; so here we go again! We arrived in Nantes last Friday afternoon with Brianna meeting us at the Nantes train station. It was so great to see her!!! It was nice to let her take over with French communication with getting the rental car at the station. With something similar to Disneyland's Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, we were able to make it safely to our hotel. Nantes is much larger than I imagined and thus there is a lot of traffic. They do have a tram system which Brianna uses to get to and from the University of Nantes, the study abroad program site and her host mom's house. Had a nice time catching up with Bri while sitting on the bed of my hotel room (really a B+B) while Linda soaked up some rays and read the insides of her eyelids in the B+B's garden. Then we all walked into town, saw some sights of the town, including an ancient cathedral and a chateau complete with a moat. Some of Bri's new friends met up with us and we all had dinner together at a creperie. Bri wanted to walk us part way back to the B+B and we wanted to walk her to her tram stop. Hmm. The tables are gradually turning: she's beginning to worry about me (us) now and I, as always, am concerned about her safetly. Saturday morning, Linda and I explored more of Nantes, while Bri and the other 69 students in her study abroad program left for a day trip to see Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo. About noon, Linda and I left town to see some chateaux in the Loire Vally in the minuscule car with directions in hand from the very nice Frenchman who runs the Nantes B+B. Immediately, we were unable to locate the road numbers he had marked for us on the map, so we were winging it before we had exited Nantes. The GPS that I had ordered when I made my rental car reservation didn't compute across the Atlantic, I discovered when picking up the car thus an additional 7 euros a day was needed for me to have it. I did not want to pay twice for the GPS so I took the car without it. Time will tell if it was a mistake not to get it! Anyway, a trip that was supposed to have taken us 2 hours according to our Frenchman, took 4.5 hours. It was probably scenic, but I didn't do much looking around as my eyes were glued to the road and my hands were clenched on the steering wheel. We arrived in Amboise, in the Loire Valley in late afternoon. Now to find the B+B with just a street name. Luckily, Linda spotted a map of the town along side of the road and we were able to figure out how to find Belleroche, the B+B chateau built in the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries on huge very picturesque grounds. The chateau is surrounded by a vast wall with a solid metal door for humans to enter and larger 2 solid metal door for the cars. We were admitted and shown to our rooms which were two rooms overlooking the Loire River. It's a 15 minute walk into Amboise. In the town, there is a chateau high on the hill that really didn't look all that impressive so the next morning when we walked up to see it, we were surprised and awed by the spectacular setting! The gardens were huge, with a large expanse of grass, not to mention the large chateau used by the Kings of France. I think it was built in the 1400's but I'll have to get back to you on that. Leonardo de Vinci was invited by the King who may have been Francois I, (let's go with that since I can't find my brochure and this isn't my favorite French history century -18th C) to come to Amboise to live. It is believed that Leonardo was buried in the church chapel of the chateau. After visiting the chateau and taking tons of photos, we walked up the street to a small chateau where Leonardo de Vinci lived called the Clos de Luce (accent aigu on the final "e"). It was built also in the 1400's, belonged to the Kings of France for 200 years and thus had huge grounds as well. In the garden, many of Leonardo's scientific inventions that were so ahead of his time were set up, for example: a flying machine, a bridge that pivoted so boats could pass and a catapult for throwing stones at the enemy. Next, we drove about 25 minutes, (we were told it would take 15 minutes) to another chateau that was set in the middle of the Cher River, Chateau de Chenonceau. This was built in the 16th C. for sure, because I found the brochure and it's in English! It too was very interesting, also used by the kings and Catherine de Medici, of France. The tree lined wide walkway leading the chateau was lovely, as were the gardens. There was also a maze on the grounds created at the request of Catherine de Medici as well as a farm. It was another very warm day and the chateaux were quite crowded. I think I'll stop for now but try to catch up with the posts in a few hours!!