You know how you wake up some days and have that nagging feeling that the plan you have for the day is going to fail. That was how I felt when I woke up this morning, we had a plan to see three chateau's and maybe get back in time to tour Clos Luce, oh well some things are just destined for a little failure.
Today we got an early start to get to the Chateau Chenonceau by the time it opened at 9 am. Robyn wanted to beat the crowds that she was sure would be there, we also had 12:30 lunch reservations at the gourmet restaurant the Orangerie. The car I have rented is a Peugeot, it turns out it has a GPS navigation system, could have used that yesterday but oh well I am an idiot. The nav system works pretty well and is accurate, so I used it to start on our approximately 30 minute journey to Chenonceau. We had left by 8:30 and it looked like we were on schedule to make the chateau by 9 or a little after. The car's navigation system was working fine and I was following it diligently, we made the correct turn off the road and came into the town that I thought was Chenonceau. At that point the directions just seemed to fade away, where the chateau was supposed to be, according to the maps I had looked at, did not exist. I drove through the town turned around and drove through it again, and once more turned around. Our of frustration I pulled over but refused to ask directions even in French, I do have my dignity. We looked at the maps we had and determined we were not yet in the town of Chenonceau, we still had about 5 kilometers to go (about 3 miles everything is in kilometers over here). Once again we took off and sure enough about 5 minutes later we found the chateau. By the time we got our tickets and Robyn had made her obligatory bathroom stop it was now around 10 and already behind Robyn's schedule. However the chateau was not crowded, no tour groups especially adolescent school children field trips, so we actually were able to get through the chateau and see everything we wanted relatively quickly. I know quite a bit of the history of Chenonceau but even I learned a little more. First the basics, Chenonceau was constructed in the 16th century over a demolished fortified medieval castle and mill. The tower in front of the chateau is all that is left of the original castle. The chateau was is built on the Cher River. The real interesting history begins with Henry II (husband of Catherine de Medici and father-in-law of Mary Queen of Scots). Henry's favorite mistress was Diane de Portiers a woman 20 years his senior but was very beautiful and kept her youthful looks. In 1547 Henry grants the Chenonceau to Diane for her to live in and manage. Diane was a very astute businesswoman and immediately had the chateau extended over the Cher with a bridge. This gave her access to the lands on the opposite bank which she leased out for hunting expeditions. Her plan was to then build on top of the bridge and increase the size of the chateau. In 1559 Henry was killed in a jousting accident, his wife Catherine de Medici kicked Diane out of the chateau and repossessed it for the state. She completed Diane's building plan by finishing the work over the bridge creating a grand ballroom. When she was Queen Regent during the various times when two of her three sons were not old enough to rule, she ran the government from a green room off of Diane's former bedroom. In fact a portrait of Catherine hangs in that bedroom today. During the brief rule of Francis II he and Mary would come to the chateau. The balcony overlooking the chapel was where all the five queens who lived there at various times went for mass. Later King Louis XIV, or the Sun King, also spent time at the chateau. When King Henry III was assassinated his wife Louise of Lorraine spent the remainder of her life at the chateau, her bedroom was decorated all in black. When we had finished touring the chateau and gardens I looked at my watch and it was only 11:20, we had seen everything we wanted to see in only an hour and twenty minutes, the problem is we had a 12:30 lunch reservation. We weren't getting out of here until at least 1:30 and it was a good 35 minute drive to the next chateau assuming I don't have issues (bad assumption). Robyn changed our reservations to when the restaurant opened and we got out of Chenonceau before 1:00, good timing. The route we were taking was on the A85 which is also a toll road. I at first wasn't going to take the toll road but when we had been on the wine tour in Lyon a couple from Colorado who was at the second winery had talked about how easy the toll roads were to use, just use a credit card to pay. Entering the toll road was relatively easy, take a ticket and go. The speed limit I was not sure of, there were no signs so I was going about 100 kph, everybody is passing me, after about 5 minutes I notice a little sign in the corner of the navigation system that indicated the speed limit was actually 130 kph (about 85 mph). No wonder I was being passed like the stupid slow lane drivers we always complain about. Everything is going fine until I see a toll booth ahead, it is all automated, no problem I will use my Euro loaded debit card. You know how you don't want to be behind that guy in the toll lane who has no idea what they are doing and are definitely in the wrong lane. Do you know what is worse? Being that guy. We always complain about the foreign drivers not knowing what they are doing, bingo I am now one of them. I pulled up to the toll gate, put the ticket in the slot, put my card in it's slot and it was rejected. I tried it again, rejected again, I got out a credit card, rejected again and this time the ticket was spit out. When the ticket was spit out I didn't know it was going to be spit out so the wind took it and sent it under the car. Here I am in a toll booth in the middle of France, and cars are piling up behind me and I now have to get out of the car and find the ticket. There was a call button on the toll machine so I pressed it and after what seemed like a half-hour (only about a minute) a woman comes on and I immediately ask her if she parles-vous anglais. She does because this is not the only time a stupid American has done this. I explain to her what was happening and she said a credit card cannot be used, apparently it is a special toll card that is purchased. She tells me I have to back up and go to the cash lane, which I did not know existed. By then there was nobody behind me as the other drivers had figured out stupid foreigner and gone to a different lane. Fortunately I had correct change and off we went, I felt pretty stupid. We get to the exit for Villandry and it is closed due to flooding, so I continue on to the next exit which is on the other side of the Loire river. We have to drive 20 kilometers up the opposite bank of the river, cross over in Tours and drive 20 kilometers back the other way to the chateau. By the time we go there it was 2:30, no way we are dong this chateau and another one today.
Villandry is beautiful, however it is not very historic. It is known primarily for it's gardens. This is another chateau that was built on a medieval castle foundation, this was done in 1536. Part of the original castle keep makes up one side of the chateau. Actually the castle was more historic since it dated to around the 11th century, but oh well who am I to argue progress. The chateau as it exists today dates from about 1906. I am attaching several photos of our visit. When we finished with Villandry we headed back to Amboise which took well over an hour, Robyn got car sick. We finished the evening at fancy-schmanzy French restaurant that Robyn had found on Trip-Advisor, it was very good, especially the wine. Tomorrow is our last day of touring since Friday and Saturday are both travel days. We plan on visiting three chateaus (in our dreams).