Greg! The stop sign! (Loire)

(It’s by Tism, an Australian group from the 80s/90s)  Unlike Greg, it wasn’t the stop sign that caused me grief.  I safely negotiated the stop sign and turned left.  As the car climbed the hill I looked up and there was a car coming towards me, on my side of the road.  It only took a fraction of a second for me to realise that my brain had reverted to long-term memory and I was driving on the wrong side of the road.  A quick swerve righted the situation, but the driver of the Peugeot was clearly traumatised.  I couldn’t believe I did it.  Obviously I am feeling too comfortable on the road.  Thankfully the car goes back tomorrow as we head to Paris.  It will be the metro, taxis and walking as modes of transport from now on.

Loire Valley:  Chenonceau and Villandry

Another day in the Loire can only mean another chateau or two.  Today began in heavy fog with a road detour as they commenced resurfacing the road outside our gîte.  Thankfully the GPS saw us safely on our way to the Chateau de Chenonceau, the castle of the ladies.  While it lacked the imposing stature of Chambord, I much preferred it.  The difference between the two chateaux really came down to gender.  Chambord was a rich bloke’s hunting lodge, Cheononceau was a home to number of the Queens of France.  The rooms were light filled and warm with beautiful views of the gardens and the River Cher.

The two gardens were beautiful although very different from each other.  But  neither was of the scope of the Chateau de Villandry garden.  It covered around 7 acres over three levels.  Just to keep the garden staff busy, they rotate each of the gardens every three years.  This entails a complete replanting of each area.  It was spectacular but the labour needed to keep it looking good is mind-blowing.

After the tour of the Villandry Gardens, we found a lovely restaurant for our lunch and had an excellent meal in beautiful sunshine served by a very accommodating waiter who amused himself by trying to coax Cait into saying something en Francais – her response? Oui. Lots of laughter from us all.  It appears, however, that this was enough to impress the waiter since he rewarded her efforts with a complimentary packet of pencils to colour her placemat.

As we sat and watched the busloads of tourists come and go at Villandry, I wondered why anyone would pay to get into an attraction such as an historic castle and not get the audio guide.  Even if you read every word in the brochure it still doesn’t provide you with the depth of information that comes with the guide.  Just walking into a room and glancing at the furniture and the paintings doesn’t seem to be particularly informative.  These places are national treasures and have so much to say about their time periods.  Every time a tour group caught us, we’d grab Cait and move to the side of the room and let them go.  Generally they were on the bus heading for the next stop before we’d made the next level of the chateau.

Random question: Why is the word ‘stop’ on stop signs in France and not the word ‘arrêt’?

Stupid comment of the day: A man standing in the forecourt of Chenonceau looking up at people on the second floor terrace … I wonder how you get up there?  Admittedly, we’d been up there, but Cait and I looked at each other and laughed.  The stairs!

Another day done and home in time to watch the last hour of the Le Tour.  Cadel is still in the frame, but how good have the Orica Green Edge team been performing?

Tomorrow is a travel day as we head for Paris and finally score an internet connection so that I can upload all the blogs we’ve written this week.