More Loire

22 July

As we ate breakfast the family pony put his head inside the top half of the stable door. Very cute, very plump, a golden brown colour. 'Sorry old chap , you are plump enough' was our response when it was clear he would prefer food to our patting. He hung in for awhile and with a final snort returned to 'mowing' the grass around our cottage.

Today we spent a lot of the day at ZooParc Beauval, a very large private zoo near Saint-Aignan. After recovering from the entry fee of 19 Euro each ($NZ80 total for the 2 of us) we found the zoo to be more than could be taken in in 1 day.

The zoo is spread over 22 hectares and has more than 4,000 species, apparently many of them exotic to Europe. While they have a large Australian pavilion (we didn't bother going there), there was only 1 NZ exhibit we saw, a kea, who was not cooperating and didn't appear while we were around the cage.

The largest areas we saw were the monkeys and apes who had extensive climbing areas and the “African savannah” with white rhinos, gazelle, wilderbeest and giraffes and something called antlered horse??. In general the enclosures were of a good size, but we felt the lions and tigers looked a litle restricted. Seeing white tigers was exciting – one was pacing short areas though and I felt (GB) that this looked like a stressed fellow. The other white tiger was in a larger enclosure and seemed relaxed snoozing in the sun. Apparently these are not a different species but the white fur is due to mutation in pigmentation. There were also Sumatran tigers. There were white lions also – as well as the African variety – one African lion mother had 2 cubs which were delightful in their frisking, rolling and gambling play. One cub got quite close to the fencing and was persuaded, shepherded and finally picked up by the scruff of it's neck and removed from the threat of goggling humans. She then herded both cubs down hill and out of sight. Prior to the cubs arrival she had spent sometime checking us out via 2 fences with steely eyed appraisal. You could feel her sizing up the situation.

After an hour wandering we moved to the Californian sealion area where we could sit down and watched an exhibition showcasing the sealions. As usual they were entertaining and balanced balls and waved when required. The most notable act was when the largest leapt onto the wall surrounding the pool and shuffled along the length of it - the other side of the wall was the public area and the people standing close were in for a nasty shock if he had slipped!  As it was the folks close up got a few splashes in their faces.

There was large variety of ape and monkeys – chimpanzees, orangatangs, gorillas, ring tailed lemurs as well as a variety of other members of the cat family – jaguars, leopards, panthers etc as well as a fishing cat – who catch fish,love to swim, have slightly webbed paws to assist in moving ariund the marshes and swamps they live in. We saw one other species of cat that looks like an overgrown domestic tabby cat – I can't remember its name. 

After a while we decided to head for the exit, but realised that the prime exhibit, a giant panda, was in a section we hadn't been near, so we headed over there to see the back of the panda who was sprawled face down on a log runway. Truly 'flat out!” I heard ( GB) people 'oh yucking' – checking out the source saw this huge blob of flat fur relieving itself while sound asleep!

This was the most amazing day. We saw penguins ( through underwater viewing window) cavorting in ways we have not seen before ( swimming sideways with uppermost flipper breaking the surface of the water then twirling around to do the same with the other flipper.) There were penguins of differing breeds – one large brown penguin waddled atop of a rock and spent time roaring loudly for us and his mates to hear. 

We also saw a territorial debate involving 2-3 individual apes in the monkey aviaries( light brown , fairly furry and tailless, we couldn't find a sign with their identity) screaming, chattering, posturing racing and chasing each other around the high climbing frames while the smaller and younger apes went about doing what apes do! 

In the tropical house there were a large variety of species, many of whom we did not know. There was, once again, a couple of turtles making babies ( not much else for them to do was Stephen's opinion) – well that is what the turtle chap had on his mind. She however was not inclined and turned a steady 360 degrees in the hope he would get dizzy and fall off I suspect before he reached his goal!

I hadn't seen a live porcupine either – these guys were eating and what a lot of grunting, gnawing noises they make – the original noisy eaters!

There are just so many different animals that I can't recall them all – however it was a journey of discovery. The enclosures are clean, free of odure, the animals appear healthy and well fed. The zoo grounds are spacious and there is a lot of shade for animals and humans alike.

Back to our gamekeeper's cottage for dinner – hairy brown dog loped up and rested his head and paws on the lower stable door again – 'What's for dinner?' his amber eyes were eloquent.After an exchange of pleasantries he gave us up again as a poor option. He had come to see us a couple of mornings ago, hoping for entry. I suspect he may well save his energy until the next guest arrive!

23 July

On the advice of our host we visited Montresor, a smaller chateau which is left in the condition it was in the late 19^th cantury. The chateau is built on a rock near the Indois river in the middle of a small town. The original structure was a defensive structure built by the Count of Anjou, in 1005 and some of the original outer walls remain. Then came long Foulques Nerra in the 16^th Century who added to it. He was the grate ...etc grandfather of Diane de Poitiers and the first of the plantagenets. The current building was erected in the early 15^th century, but substantially changed around 1850 when a wealthy Polish count, Xavier Branicki, bought the estate and restored the chateau in the romantic style. He filled it with his hunting trophies and art works. The chateau is now in the condition he let it with his furniture and decorations intact.

What an amazing step back in time – we wandered from room to room amazed by all we saw- the circular Italian staircase that he bought in an auction in Paris, made of mahogany with brass fittings, was particularly appealing to Stephen. I was equally wowed by the original paintings of people including Napolean and the young King of Rome as well as paintings of the Branicki family going about daily life as well as portraits – there were marble busts as well. We both agreed that the sheer quantity of the high end art work was impressive The walls still were covered in fabric wall paper. The furniture was incredible and defeat my descriptive efforts. The fireplaces and chimneys were huge and ornate and gilded in several cases.

Stephen's comment that this 3 story building felt accessible as a house to live in – there were basements also of course where the kitchens would have been. In the dining room there was a table that, when extended, would seat 40 people and covered the floor from the windows of thee north to south side – covering the width of the ground floor. We have noted in other Chateau the dark stair cases that lead to the kitchens – often with a tight bend in them and commiserated with servants hurrying up and down these with plates and bowls of hot food, not to mention wine glasses and wine bottles. This was not the lot of servants in this chateau. In the dining room there is a 'hoist' – dumb waiter! How much easier for the servants!

Throughout our ramblings we were aware of how few fellow tourists there were. Lovely to feel we were almost on our own in this atmospheric chateau.

The gardens outside are lovely , we went around the walls, the old keep with magnificent views of the town and the forests beyond where the family and guests of the family hunted. As an aside there were wolves in the forest until 100 years ago. Sadly there are 2 mounted heads of very young white wolves in the entrance hall.

In the garden there are statues in the garden, one of which is memorial to a young man who fought with Xavier Branicki and who died in his arms. Very touching when you look at it in context.

After drinking our fill of this very lovely site we ventured out into the town of Montresor. Every step almost elicited an 'oh my gosh – look at that!” It is a small town laid out on a Medieval street plan ( higgildy de piggildy) around and under the walls of the chateau. The houses and shops are quaint, stone and plaster, remarkably clean, with a white glow in the sun.

Then – we saw the beautiful church – in we went to see the interior. It is still, peaceful and full of a sense of the ages of folk worshiping here – bringing their lives and trials and fortunes to their higher power. It is a beautiful church and at the back are the tombs and 'figures en repose' of... who owned the chateau in 1500.......... alongside his wife and son who was adolescent by the look of his 'figure'.

We drove closer to the Indrois and looked at the river meadows -lush green grass that horses were grazing on and flicking at the always present flies here with the forest bordering them.Another aside – these flies don't know they are supposed to die when they breathe fly spray!They also have no idea that when flicked at by human hand or horse tail that the decent thing to do is to fly away!

Still another aside – the forests we drive through to go to these towns are beautiful. The roads are 1½ cars wide and the forest meets over head as we drive down them. The trees are spaced widely by our NZ bush characteristics and the forest floor covered in low growing green verbiage. Most trees have some form of growth climbing their trunks but this seems to be a symbiotic arrangement. Our hostess says that as she rides through the forests she often sees deer – in summer they are to be seem lying down and completely unconcerned about her and her horses appearance.

Back to the day. We had a gorgeous lunch at a local bar – restaurant and have booked to return tomorrow night to have dinner. We ate in the shadow of the chateau walls, drinking a white Chinon sauvignon blanc watching the people go by.

Back into our trusty Peugeot and on to the next recommended town of Valency. We looked at the exterior of the Chateau – much larger than Montresor. It had 2 wings in an L shape and the inner part of the first wing was covered, obviously undergoing renovation. This Chateau, unlike Montresor, was used for state occasions and the King of Spain was held prisoner there for 6 years. The extensive grounds were immaculate and beautifully laid out. We decided that instead of going through this huge establishment we would go in search of the best ice cream in France ( another hostess tip off!). As luck would have it the shop was closed as we went into another shop for wine tasting – I scored a nice bottle of white and then we went to the local Intermarche. Oh joy! There were the long desired and much searched for clips to hold the table cloth on when dining outside! Stephen and I prowled this site – our first Intermarche. We know the Carrefour chain, the Super U chain and the Lidl chain! The Intermarche has different range of goodies – more drooling over fish ( varieties unknown and unavailable to we kiwis at home), cuts of meat decorated with plastic roses and flowers, delicatessen meats, more cheeses etc not to mention the hardware! Rather like what the Warehouse tried to do in Auckland.

The next day we were to talk to an English couple who told us that Valency is one town which doesn't close down in winter – they like to come there to the restaurants and cafes.

Back to our back water to make dinner. This time down roads hardly wide enough for one car. On our trip to Montresor and back we met many agricultural harvesting related vehicles that took up all the road – hence some sweaty palm moments as Stephen tried to edge as far over as he could without ending up in the ditch that runs beside every road and lane!

When back I made the best quiche I have ever made – the crust of the quiche was so light and the filling light and fluffy! No egg beater here, as recipe recommended , so I am feeling less of a culinary failure now!

Right – dinner over. Hours of daylight left – night falls around 11pm and dawn around 5am – so Stephen loads me into the car to return to the pond where he saw ears and a couple of eyes breaking the surface as the animal below was swimming. Maybe a beaver! We are still not over our not “a beaver watching” experience near Florac!

As we moved off our hostess appeared – she had just bought a new horse to join her heard and was watching the hierarchy establishment – making sure the new girl didn't get into too much trouble. Oh no! It wouldn't be a beaver she said( yes – of course. I remembered now that beavers live in running water) It's probably a nice big water rat! After more information gathered we went anyway – GB protesting that she wasn't interested an old rat. At the pond we were entertained by a loud exchange of what sounded like bird screeching from the weeds, Maybe frogs? Stephen wondered. There were ripples in the lake, no ears or eyes appeared this time – too far away Stephen said to get a good view. Maybe fish I venture -anything is possible except a beaver we agreed.

We asked about the industrial complex located in the woods about a kilometre away from us and labelled Storenergy. Apparently it stores natural gas underground at a depth of 1.5km. From interest's sake I will find out more when we have an internet connection.

24 July:

Oh joy again. On our way to Montrichard today we saw a little faun on the road edge, right beside the forest. It was a lovely deep reddish brown and darted straight back undercover as soon as it was aware of us. What a lovely way to start the day's adventures. Today has been really hot. Like the mad dogs and English men we ventured forth at 11am to explore the town. It was around 32 degrees and got hotter as our explorations continued. First was a tour of the town – many half timbered shops and houses – not so typical we have noticed. Then we climbed up to the Don Jon (keep) of the ruined chateau. Within this area we then spent at least 2 hours in a fascinating exploration of the history of Montrichard and surrounds. Well before Foulques Nerra put his stamp on the site, as part of his defensive ring of fortresses to deter his enemy of Anjou, this had been a home to early celts who were druids. There is a lovely legend about an oak tree with a carving of Mary and the holy child which was moved to another site and 3 times it restored itself to its original position.  In the end a young Christian arrived on his horse and taking the veil from the carving single handedly lassooed the mysterious creature form the river who had a habit of devouring the villagers he dragged it to the carving of the Madonna where it expired – never to reappear! Thus Christianity began in Montrichard. This is recounted in the musee we visited. There is a replica of the carving.

There is also evidence of Roman habitation 1 – 3 century BC and there were glazed drainage channels left behind. There is also remains of a large local Roman villa.There were sarcophogus – 3 adult, one shorter and 2 children sized. In one the skeleton was lying dustily – 2 skeletons were suspended from the cave wall ( these guys have a willingness to hang up the remains of the dead. I am still recovering from seeing a whole Polish wolf in the dining room yesterday in Montresor – black tongue lolling lifelessly out of its mouth, not to mention; deer, owls, eagles, wild cats etc!) Not sure whose skeletons they were but the sarcophogi were heavy duty and made of local tufa.

On we went – the musee gave a good overview of the history of the site – outlining what happened and to whom after Foulque Nerra arrived on the scene. He built a Chappele – Sainte Croix – below the keep which has had to be restored several times – not least being the occasion that the Royal quarters fell onto it! Foulque Nerra went on 4 crusades to atone for his sins? ( how does killing the infidels atone for sins? I don't compute this at all!). All too much to retain so we took photos of our guide in the hope we can reread and refresh. Really fascinating stuff and just reminds us of how interlinked ll the European countries are. Mary Stuart's young first husband Franscois I turned up in the geneology of the chateau.

There were also wax figures showing the life style of the peasants and middle classes around 1880 back to medieval times. Interesting furniture and artifacts and clothing – in the 1100s women's clothing was heavy and back – white was for mourning in France then. Very detailed – frills and flounces abounded but very somber.

We visited the other musee – one very interesting about the Paleontologie of the area – what a huge variety of fossils there are in the area and the sea life was extensive.There were of course ammonites and the the coral formations were extensive.

Moving along we went down the next set of creaking and groaning spiral stairs to see the Prehistoric section. It is hard to describe this. As we all know the search to find the 'origin of man' is ongoing, complex, fraught with disagreement and challenges. However – going from evidence of the craniums on display there is a wonderful progression seen in the change of shape in the size and shape of the skull to house an evolving brain in the various species. The increasingly specialised functions of said brains evidently have made demands on cranial space to accommodate various lobes. Equally obvious are the changes in diet reflected in the shape and size of the jaw and on the teeth . Also obvious are the nasal cavity modifications and cheek bones – all reflecting a different life style and requirements placed on these structure. I have not seen exhibits placed so close together where the comparisons are so clear. 

Our final stop in the walls of the chateau were to a reconstruction of how mills worked – even with an example from Pompeii to show how they evolved. A working model mill showed the last 200- 300 years of wind milling.

Back up top again we made our ascent – in the heat!- to just below the chateau as it was built in the 13^th century. Having trudged up to this point it would have been another huge hike up to the entrance. This was a 'no go' area as it was in various stages of disrepair but the original shape and design were clear. This is the only medieval chateau in the Loire – the rest have at the very least renaissance renovations and often more recent than that.

The view at this height was superb across the river flats and town and villages.

Leaving the chateau we went into the Chapelle that was built for the chateau – the royal living quarters in the chateau had fallen down onto this Chapelle and it had been repaired. This is another atmospheric place of worship. There is a lovely 'statue' hanging on the wall before entering the sanctuary of Jean d'Arc and on the left side of the sculpture the words “ merci Sainte Jeanne d'Arc “ and on her right the words “merci”. How simple, how explicit – I was moved by the significance in those few words.

By the time we arrived back in the town (3.30pm) people were awake again, shops open so we wandered to the local Tourist bearau (Stephen to get maps of locale Vin Caves ) and then to wine taste ( One bottle of local blanc) and then to a swanky Cave – my mouse (Monmousseau) as Stephen calls it. I decided I had enough vin in my system from first tasting so remained in the car and people watched. He came back armed with a both of local Rose bubbly, that we enjoyed with our nibbles upon our return to out Gite, and with a local red for himself.

Next stop – Carrefour as we were low on ham etc, cheese and croissant from the boulangerie that is part of the complex. As we were having a lively discussion in front of the cheeses and an English voice asked “Do you eat cheese then?” The voice belonged to a lovely English man from Oxfordshire (he couldn't work out which English speaking nation we were from except that it wasn't UK!). His equally lovely wife appeared and we had a delightful talk about cheese, about travel, about speaking French as Brits cf speaking French as kiwis, the effect of the EU on the way the young travel, marry, work ( their son is married to an Italian, lives in Switerland, works for an American company and they also have a house in Northern Italy. As I explored the types of cheese my new friend asked, in fluent French the questions I had. Admiring her fluency I then found that she ( never did ask her name) had travelled to Toronoto as a 6 year old in 1940 as evacuees. The sailing before them of evacuee children from Britain had been torpedoed by German U Boats. Their intrepid sailing was safe due to the huge storm they encountered , in which the submarines could not operate. Oh my goodness – more reminders of reality beyond our generation.

Anyway her French had continued to build after those years and they come every year to France where they have had houses so get plenty of practice. What a different way of life.

Well – what a rich and fascinating chat we had. I think our lovely Brit does this when he hears English – sometimes would be more fruitful than others. Stephen was delighted! He loves a good travel chat!

Gite time – this time with our faithful hound who so wants to be loved and love us.He returned. As we ate our fresh baguette with Foie du Porc, cheeses bought with the advice of my new friend and washed down with the regions bubbly I couldn't resist his amber eyes and loving gaze. No 'doggy breath'– his teeth seem nice and clean, I asked him if his mother took him to the zoo dentist for treatment? If so there was a bit of plaque that needed attention.No doggy smell neither – he has a lovely golden brown curly shaggy coat – chocolate brown on his back. He would have loved tit bits but settled for GillieB strokes and pats and coos. He seemed to know Stephen was not interested – even though he did try to be friendly from time to time – receiving stern looks he settled back down to worship GB with his amber eyes! Oh ! I want to take this dog home for Lucas.

Thunder rumbled, rain tumbled and we retreated so did our (my!) wee canine friend to our respective abodes.

25 July

A quiet day around the gite with a leisurely visit to the local chateau at Montpoupon. Again the origins are from Folques-Nerra in the 11^th century and the location is strategic. There are some remnants from that time, but the chateau suffered during the 100 years war and was restored in the 1400's in the renaissance style. It fell into neglect in the 18^th century and then the chapel was destroyed during the revolution. Restoration was finally achieved around 1900 to the present condition.

Parts of the first 2 floors are open with displays of period furnishings and decorations with fine decorated beam ceilings. The kitchen which was added in the 19^th century was in use until the last cook retired in 1977 and has a fine display of cookware including a mould to prepare cleaned and boned poultry for the table.