May 13 and 14 Boigny-sur-Bionne

As many of you know, Cindy started running a few weeks ago.  She felt great and really looked forward to going, but a week and a half ago she put my back out and have been having problems with it ever since.  Such a drag, the last couple of days we have had to lie low and today she had her spine manipulated.  She has an appointment on Friday with a chiropractor, and we hope that will fix her.  We are taking the time to finalize all of the places we will visit, and the things we would like to see when we leave Orleans next Monday and travel on to Spain to visit with the Lucia and her family, and then on to Provence, we hope for sun and fun.

We did go for a walk into the village here and Jim finally remember to take a shot of the monument on the little bridge over the Bionne creek.  Our American friends will find this quite interesting, I'm sure.

Cindy prepared a collage of pictures of some of the things that we have seen.  Hope you enjoy it.

May 12 Caen and Courseilles

After breakfast with Kate and Julien, where we were introduced to pepitos (pastries filled with chocolate chips and a kind of custardy stuff), we headed off to Courseilles-sur-Mer (49°20'16.8"N, 0°28'08.1"W) near the Juno Beach centre and site of the D-Day landings of the Canadian troops in 1944 and went for a leisurely stroll along the beach of La Manche with Dora, their perfectly behaved dog.  We picked up a feast of mussels, shrimps and crab and headed back to Caen for lunch. What a perfect way to celebrate Mother's Day, when not with Gillian and Isaac, thank you so much.

Julien:  Merci pour m'enseigne comment faire la mayonnaise. Votre secret est en sécurité à moi, et je vais la faire seulement pour mes amis préférés.



May 11 Caen and Cherbourg

We learned something about navigating with a GPS yesterday and especially last night.  The hotel we stayed at in Caen is brand new and in a brand newly developed area.  It does not yet show on Google Maps although putting the address into GM did result in it putting the marker in about the right place.  But of more importance was the data in the GPS.  We chose not to update our maps because they are quite expensive to do so.  So the maps our GPS has in it are about 3 years old now.  In most cases, this is not a problem - generally a new roundabout may be located in a spot where an intersection was or the motorway system (péage) might have been extended.  But in suburban areas that are being developed, it can be a problem.  So the story is that I had written down all the key steps on the route from Chartres to our hotel in Caen, except for the last couple figuring that finding the right exits was the main challenge.  I should have realized that I needed the last bit too since this was not on the GPS. We didn't come to this realization until we tried to program the GPS in Chartres, when we no longer had an internet connection to figure things out.  In daylight when we got to Caen, we made a few wrong turns but I knew generally where it was and did find it.  However, coming back from downtown after dinner, due to one way streets, we could not retrace our route back up to the hotel and had to figure out another way.  I also rely on the sun to help me keep my sense of direction, which isn't helpful at night.  For those who have not driven in France (or Europe in general from our experience), road names are either not posted or very difficult to find so even if you have a map you will get quite lost.  We probably spent about 45 minutes (should have been about 10 minutes) meandering around trying to find the place, but we eventually did.

Kate picked us up this morning on her way back from working overnight in Courseilles and we joined her and Julien for a wonderful lunch (French style, i.e. banquet supper in Canada) prepared by chef Julien.  Then we all went to Cherbourg, about an hour and a half northwest of Caen on La Manche (English Channel) to visit the Cité de la Mer Musée (49°38'50.6"N, 1°37'02.2"W) where we toured a decommissioned nuclear submarine (Redoutable) and the aquariums.  We returned and Kate made a yummy pizza with crème fresh, cheese, potatoes camalized onions and charcuteries.  It was a good day and quite enjoyable.

(49°11'28.7"N, 0°23'29.1"W)

May 10 Chartres

Today we drove to Caen to visit with Julien and Kate, whose wedding we attended in 2011 in Normandy.  It's about a 4.5 hour drive so we broke that up by visiting Chartres on the way.  Chartres has one of the most spectacular cathedrals (Notre Dame de Chartres) anywhere with a very long history.  As we drove north approaching Chartres we came up a small hill and saw this immense church on a hill in the distance.  Apparently pilgrims to this church have used its spire to guide them in from many miles away as recently as the day before our visit.  Our tour guide told us they'd actually walked from Paris as a pilgrimage.  If you do go to Chartres, and you must if you have a day to spare while in the Paris area, be sure to have a tour by Malcolm Miller.  He's an 80 year old Chartres scholar whose been studying the iconography in the cathedral all his adult life and has been giving tours of it for 56 years now.  We only spent a couple of hours there but that was woefully inadequate.  (48°26'50.5"N, 1°29'13.9"E)

Malcolm Miller pointing out features on the north porch of the church (Cindy in grey).

The North Porch central bay shows Jesus crowning Mary after her arrival in heaven.  Below that central sculpture on the left is Mary on her death bed with one of the apostles checking for a heart beat, and on the right angels lifting her out of her sarcophagus to take her to heaven.  The archway is fully carved with symbolic figures.  Below, the figures flanking the doorway start with Melchizedek on the left and proceed through Abraham, Moses, Aaron or Samuel and King David, then on the right continue with Isaiah, Jeremiah, Simeon, John the Baptist and Peter.  The pictures below show a lot of symbolism to anyone who knows their biblical stories (for instance, Abraham is holding Isaac to be sacrificed but is listening to an angel (above Mel) while a lamb shows up - under foot - to be sacrificed instead).  The other quite striking symbolism is Mel and Peter both have bread and wine in a chalice (Peter's is broken off - damaged as are many of the statues following the French Revolution in the late 1700s).

Here`s a few more pictures from the outside.

The last photo is of the labyrinth in the centre of the cathedral that many visitors walk, some in prayer.

May 9 Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud

We took a long drive to the west of Tours today to see the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud.  On the way we did a drive by shooting (camera) of Chateau d'Usse.  It is apparently the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty.  Here's what it looks like from the road (47°15'02.6"N, 0°17'27.5"E). 

(47°10'52.7"N, 0°03'05.2"E)

The Abbaye was founded in 1101 by a priest as a religious community of men and women under the authority of an abbess. 12th century kings of England Henry II and Richard I (the lionheart), as well as Eleanor of Aquitaine are buried here. In the late 18th century the abbey was closed, but reopened in the early 19th century as a penitentiary. The last prisoners left this facility in 1985.

I took these shots in the archway into the nun's cloister.  I'll leave you to speculate as to the purpose of these images in such a setting.



Here's a fun shot.

May 8 Champignons and Cheverny

We headed out to see some Roman ruins near Thésée, east of Tours, but when we got there found they were fenced in an locked.  Not a problem though we could see it pretty well from the fence.  I explored a few tunnels on the other side of the road that had old wine making equipment in it, barrels and presses, etc.  Probably wasn't supposed to be in there, but then they would have locked them if they didn't want me in there, right?

Just a few kilometres away in Bourré we went to the Caves Champignonnières des Roches (47°21'3.4"N, 1°13'28.4"E) and paid a relatively obscene amount to tour underground workings that are being used to grow mushrooms.  The workings are hundreds of kilometres in total length and result from quarrying to produce the stone that built many of the châteaux around here.  Although interesting and cool (temperature), I figured they could have given us a sample to taste while we were down there for what we paid.  I'm not bitter.  Here are some pics.

 

(47°30'00.8"N, 1°27'28.9"E)

Then we headed to Château de Cheverny for a tour.  This château has been owned by the same family for over 400 years (save for two periods where they lost control of it - if you've been following the blog, one of those times was when Diane de Poitiers, the former mistress of Henri II, took it over to supervise the building of Château Chaumond after she was ousted from Château Chenonceau by Henri's wife after he died).  It is currently occupied by the Marquise de Vibraye and her family, but part of the château and the grounds are open to the public and has been so since 1922 (for a fee). 
 

May 7 Orleans

We lay low during the day today as Cindy was nursing a sore back from bending over to pick something up. You know how that is.  In the evening we went into Orleans using the Tram system to avoid issues with parking and getting out of the city afterward.  We went to a medieval market for a bit then headed to the big event of the Jeanne d'Arc festival.  It began with the lowering of the flag (it gets raised again tomorrow) - not sure about the symbolism here.  After speeches from the mayor and bishop, a sound and light show began projected onto the cathedral depicting a dramatization to music of the live and times of Jeanne.  It was quite spectacular.  The pictures don't do it justice, but here are a few.  (47°54'6.4"N, 1°54'33.6"E)

May 6 Hiking

We took a couple of hikes in areas near our chateau today.  We couldn't venture far because we were hosting a dinner soirée with our new friends.

The first hike was in the Bois de Charbonnière, which is a large forested estate with a huge chateau in the middle.  It's about a five minute drive from our chateau.  After that we took another hike along the Canal d'Orléans, this time from Faye-aux-Loges to Donnery.

Here's a photo of the chateau.  If you're interested in buying it or seeing photos from the interior, follow this link:  http://chateau.zilbert.com/ChateauDetails.htm.  Both price and interior are spectacular.

(47°56'04.4"N, 1°59'26.6"E) 

Dinner tonight with our new friends, Sylvie and Olivier (owners of our flat), their son Tristan and our cross hall neighbour Aurelie, was fantastic.  We had such a good time that we forgot to get a picture!  We had cantaloupe mellons with Quinqui Noix walnut aperitif poured on them (something we learned in Brive-la-Gaillard a few years ago); Cindy made tomato tart (a recipe from our brother-in-law's (Eric Akis) cookbook - http://www.everyonecancook.com/) and she rocked it; salads (green and pasta); almond tart (Cindy learned this from Marie, our host 'mom' in Lyon last month - rocked this one too); and a selection of stinky yummy cheeses with baguette.  

May 5 Parc Floral de la Source

It was questionable weather today and we didn't feel like driving far, so we visited a large park in southern Orléans called Parc Floral (47°51'00.9"N, 1°56'14.8"E).  It is built around the source of the Loiret, a creek that flows through south Orleans.  At the actual source in the park, water is visibly springing to surface from a subterranean stream.

It was a bit early for the flowers here but it was a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  Here's a couple of shot from the park.

May 4 Canal d'Orléans and Jargeau

Today we decided to take a hike on one of the many hiking/biking trails along the Canal d'Orléans.  The trail we took leads from Chécy, which is the little community near us, to the community of Donnery.

(47°53'39.3"N, 2°03'23.9"E) 

Here is a picture of a mustard field beside the canal, these yellow fields are all over the place and are so beautiful. 

 (47°53'59.9"N, 2°04'19.6"E)

This picture is for Lisa, this is where the gnomes really belong. Don't they look sad?

(47°53'34.0"N, 2°02'36.8"E)

In the afternoon we went to poke around in St Denis de l'Hôtel and Jargeau, which is a short drive from here, have you ever wondered what "seven swans a swimming" looks like?  Well we saw 21!

(47°52'05.7"N, 2°07'09.8"E)







May 3 Orléans

We took it easy again to day and headed into Orléans to wander about, hit a café, check out a market, etc.  Here's a picture from today.

This building is said to be Jeanne d'Arc's house (47°54'3.3"N, 1°54'09.4"E).  From all I've read, however, it is a reconstruction of a building she may have spent a few days in when she came throught Orléans in 1429 to liberate it from the dreaded anglais.  We didn't go in but we did find a nice café across the street for an expresso.

Just sipping some Cheverny, Cuvee Royale, 2010 as I finish this.  Cindy made some fine gnocchi tutti mare for dinner tonight donc la vie en France est merveilleux.

May 2 Gien

The weather looked iffy today so we decided to visit a nearby town called Gien which has a famous china manufacture called Faiencerie de Gien (www.gien.com). 

Here are a few shots from Gien (47°41'06.9"N, 2°37'49.7"E).  The last one of Cindy on the stairs with pink apple blossoms falling around her reminded us of Thunder Bay's weather yesterday, although there it wasn't pink blossoms but rather snow in May!

We also walked around the town a bit then returned to St Benoit sur Loire (see April 23) to revisit the cathedral and visit the adjacent shop run by the monks.  The first time we went there, a service was on so we couldn't explore much and the shop was closed, althought the Gregorian chanting was amazing in the cathedral.  This time I got down into the crypt where a brass box is on display and is reported to contain the remains of St. Benedict who founded the Benedictine Order.  The Benedictines also make one of my favourite liqueurs, B&B.

(47°48'34.5"N, 2°18'20.8"E)

This brass box is reported to contain the remains of St. Benedict.  If you click the photo to enlarge it, you may be able to make out the inscription in the plaque beneath the box.  It says "Reliques de Saint Benoit, 480-547".

May 1 Boigny-sur-Bionne

These last two days have been wet and cool so we've stayed put and got other things done.  Cindy did get out for her jogs though.  The official weather forecast on one web site was for "sprinkles".  Apparently it sprinkles cats and dogs here.  We stayed inside, did laundry, and other household chores and went to pick up provisions (we were getting low on wine and May 1 is labour day here with everything closed).

April 29 Chaumont-sur-Loire

Checked out another chateau today. This is the one that King Henri II's mistress, Diana, took over after his wife took over Chenonceau, although she apparently didn't spend a lot of time here. It's high on a hill overlooking the village and the Loire River. Here's a few shots of it, from a window in it and from the river below it.  That's Cindy in the black sweater in two of the shots.

Tonight was the re-enactment of Jeanne d'Arc's arrival in Orleans when she is reported to have led the French forces to drive the dreaded anglais out of town during the 100 years war.  (We're back!)  I didn't get a great shot of her due to crowds and night lighting, but every year the Orleanais select a young woman (presumably 17 years old like Jeanne was) to play the roll of Jeanne.  

Here's some shots I grabbed from the Orleans.fr website.