Sunday.  Today we headed out for our next adventure in a CAR!!!  We didn't want to rent a car on this vacation and we really hadn't needed to, but when Yves practically insisted we borrow his car, it opened up more opportunities for us to explore.  The hard part will be figuring out how to thank him for his kindness!

We said we were going to get up at 6:00 and leave at 7:00 but after dinner with the group last night, we decided to sleep until 7:00 and leave at 8:00.  But I lingered drinking coffee and we didn't actually leave until about 8:30.  David had planned our route.  We wanted to avoid A85 which is the expressway so we could enjoy the scenery.  Instead we took a two lane road that roughly followed the Cher River before another two lane road took us north toward the Loire River.  It was a lovely drive and every day we fall more in love with the beauty of the Loire Valley!

Our destination was Amboise (pronounced Am-bwas) and we planned to go on Sunday because we were told that is their market day.  We arrived around 9:15 and it wasn't too hard to find a parking place, but from the flow of traffic you could tell the parking spaces were filling fast.  We wouldn't have wanted to arrive much later, tho, because within a very short time cars were streaming in from two directions and it got to be quite a bottle neck.

I must say we fell in love with Amboise from the very first moment.  It's a small town of about 12,500 people and it is on the Loire River.  I'm partial to towns/cities with rivers running through them (you all know how much I love Portland)!  The market is set out along the river front and it is very beautiful.

The market was incredible and much larger than any others we have seen.  I was very excited when I found a tent set up with gourmet coffee, tea and hot chocolate.  We stopped there first thing and I enjoyed a great cup of coffee and David had hot chocolate.  

They even had chickens for sale at the market!  And the fruit and vegetable stalls were gorgeous.

David liked that this lettuce was already shredded -- less work!
 

There was a lot of freshly cooked foods to choose from too.  Everything smelled wonderful!

Look at this display of olives.  We hadn't seen olives for sale like this since we were in Nice a few years ago.

There was also a truck offering fresh pasta.  That was a first too.  We wish we had thought to bring a cooler or something to keep things fresh until we drove home!!!

Not to be outdone, here are pictures of the flowers offered for sale.  I wish I could have bought them all.

Tons of clothing vendors were there and also vendors offering beds, mattresses, rugs, kitchen utensils and just about anything else you can think of.  Look at this big truck selling shoes.

And a scissor and knife sharpening truck.  

As we were leaving the market to go see the chateau, a woman approached David and tried to sell him something.  It took me a minute to figure it out but she was collecting money for an animal shelter, and she had an adorable miniature black pig there with her.  David fell in love with the pig and wanted to bring him home (don't worry, Rachael, I talked him out of it).  But he was very, very cute!!!

On the way to the chateau, we saw this wonderful street of shopping and restaurants.  It was ANOTHER gorgeous day so many, many people were sitting outside enjoying their food and drink.  

 
We arrived at the chateau at a great time because it wasn't busy yet.  It sits beautifully on its property with great views.  It was built in the 15th and 16th centuries.  

 

The St. Hubert Chapel is also on the grounds.  It was constructed in 1493.  This is the resting place for Leonardo da Vinci who died in Ambroise on May 2, 1519.  da Vinci arrived in Amboise in 1516 at age 64, and he met King Francois I.  The King named him "first painter, engineer, and king's architect," and gave him a pension.  He allowed him to live at nearby Clos Luce (which we toured later in the day) until he died..

I have to say the Kings' thrones aren't nearly as big and fancy as I thought they would be.  Or maybe the French Kings just weren't that pretentious!

The following photos are just a variety of the ones we took.  I have posted plenty of chateau photos already on this blog and I don't want to bore everyone.
 

Can you believe this weather???

Then it was time for lunch!  From the castle, we spotted a restaurant with an outdoor terrace in the back on the second level which provided a spectacular view.  We walked there and the menu sounded good so we went in and luckily got a table on the terrace.  Since it was off the street, it was also pleasant and quiet.  The name of the restaurant is Amboiserie.  David ordered an omelet with salad and frites and I ordered steak and frites.  How do these dishes look?

We wanted dessert (of course!) but we were too full.  A couple at the table next to us ordered dessert and they got a huge platter of sweets with about 7 or 8 individual desserts on it.  Wish I had had the nerve to ask them if I could take a picture!


After lunch we walked up to Clos Luce where Leonardo di Vinci lived the last three years of his life.  On our walk there we saw some "cave houses."  I know my friends Gail and Lisa are fascinated by these homes.

Close Luce is a spectacular "house" and gardens!!!  This house is pretty contemporary looking.for a medieval building!

This was de Vinci's bedroom.

This room is where di Vinci supposedly finished his St. John the Baptist.  

I could post many more pictures but this post is getting way too long.  We ended our visit by walking through the gorgeous gardens.  We could have spent many more hours here!

We walked through the streets of Amboise to get back to our car and this is a very picturesque town.  We had a leisurely drive home and enjoyed the countryside very much.  When we were almost home we were passed by this car, a Ferrari . . . and it was parked in the parking lot where we ended up.  They went into a bar for a drink we took a few pictures.

We ended the fabulous day with a light dinner of cheese and crackers.  We are just starting to feel like our days are numbered here and we don't like that one bit!!!