18 June 2012 - Varennes-Sur-Loire

Yesterday we spent the morning and part of the afternoon at Fontevraud Abbey.  Gillian was really looking forward to this and it exceeded her expectations.  The abbey was founded by Robert de Arbrissel who was a hermit in the woods and was known for promoting the place of women.  It ran for 700 years until the French revolution when the nuns were kicked out.  In the meantime it became the favourite haunt of royalty.  Henry II of England, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their son Richard the Lionheart and their daughter in law are all buried in the church.

Effigy of Richard the Lionheart and his sister in law.  His parents are behind them.

The abbey was turned in to a prison and some of the priories demolished, but a lot has now been restored and is amazing for the scale, considering it was mainly built in the 1200s.

We then headed for Chinon, but ended up deciding that we were too tired to do much, so ended up stopping at a wine cellar dug into the tuffa cliffs.  This was truly amazing with the tunnels extending for 100s of metres.  The smell was wonderful. (The wine was good as well.)

The Caves du Vin at Chinon

Dinner was back at our accommodation where the host is a chef who has had enough of the pressures of the restaurant trade, but loves cooking for the quests.

Today we started with Chateau de Usse which apparently is the inspiration for "Sleeping Beauty".  Many of the rooms are set up with wax tableaux of the story or historic scenes of castle life.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

A few miles down the road we toured the gardens of Chateau du Villandry which are immense and beautifully tended.  These are a reconstruction of the mediaeval gardens for the castle.

Villandry Gardens

Dinner at a creperie on the bank of the Loire - absolutely beautiful gallettes (savoury pancakes).