Day 1: Mont St-Michel to Amboise
We spent more time waiting for trains than we did on trains getting from Mont St-Michel to Tours, with long waits in Rennes (where we saw murals along the way) and in Le Mans (where we saw murals in the train station).
In total, 2.75 hours on trains sandwiched with 5.25 hours of waiting.
The Tours train station was closed temporarily, which worked in our favor, since they were routing trains to St Pierre de la Corps which is where the Alamo rental car office was. Alamo was right outside the train station, not where shown on Google maps. Other than figuring out how reverse worked on the car, the drive was fine. We did have to drive on the sidewalk while going through construction. We walked to the market, then the bakery for breakfast.
Dinner at Les Arpents was scrumptious. The meal is a surprise, based on a choice of number of courses and any allergies.
Day 2: Chenonceau and Chambord
We hit our first two chateaus today. Chenonceau was beautiful, nicely set up with furnishings and with gardens in bloom too. It was our favorite of the chateaus we saw. If you can only see one, go to Chenonceau.
It was about an hour’s drive from Chenonceau to Chambord, on mostly rural roads. Chambord is bigger but to us not as impressive. Other than the roof, which was pretty amazing.
After that we headed home, saving Cheverny and Chaumont for another day, perhaps. So many chateaus, so little time!
Driving wasn’t too bad. There was very little traffic and occasionally narrow roads. Having Google navigation was very helpful, though we could NOT get the volume to increase on Android Auto so we had to be very quiet.
Back in Amboise we walked to the store and bought bread, cheese, and meat for sandwiches for dinner. And some more wine. We also did laundry, since we have a machine here.
Day 3: Villandry and Azay-le-Rideau
We got a late start heading west to Villandry and Azay-Le-Rideau chateaus. We went to Villandry first since it was our top priority.
Azay-le-Rideau was our last chateau. We spent a lot of time trying to get to the chateau from the parking lot. We could SEE the chateau but not how to get in! (Walk toward the village street; the entrance is on the left from the main street.)
We got back to Amboise just in time to walk into town for our dinner reservation. The streets in Amboise are narrow and charming, with interesting bits of architecture along the way. After dinner we walked over to the river to peek over the wall. We caught some swans napping.
Day 4: Cher River Walk
Today we drove over near Chenonceau and took a walk recommended by our host. It wasn’t far to drive and a relaxed walk along the river to a good view of Chenonceau on the other bank.
After that we drove onto Tours to drop off the rental car. That was a bit of an adventure since the road in front of the station was closed and of course everything was one-way. We eventually found the parking and had to double park because it was full. The guy from Alamo said that’s typical.
We put 312 km on the rental car. We try to avoid renting cars while traveling but here it was convenient set our own schedule and less expensive than doing tours which wouldn’t have covered exactly what we wanted to see.
We got the train back to Amboise and walked home via the bakery and supermarket. Picnic dinner again tonight. We got a nice view of the chateau in Amboise and the Loire on the way home.
Day 5: Market Day in Amboise
We timed our trip to be in Amboise on market day because we heard they had a good one. By the time we got going (noonish) we had to rush a little to make sure we hit the supermarket before they closed at 13:00. Then we walked through the market a bit before heading back to drop off our food. Boars were definitely a theme.
We decided to go back out and walk some more, since we hadn’t had a chance to see much of Amboise. We saw more of the town and went back through the market, which was closing down but still going. Near the castle is a nice stretch of cafes, some decorated for Easter.
We spent some time walking along the river too. There were groups of people out picnicking. And no, we have no idea why there is a giraffe sculpture along the way.
We enjoyed this fun Max Ernst fountain by the market. We also saw his work at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.
Essentials
Lodging
Our flat in la maison du philosophe was spacious and had everything we could have wished for, other than some outside seating because the weather was nice. It had a full kitchen, laundry, and two bathrooms. Luxury! Plus it looked cool. Parking was a little tricky since you had to leave the car to enter a code to open the gate, and it was hard to get out of traffic right there. Backing in worked better.
Dining
We booked a table at Les Arpents our first night. It was the best meal we had in France. The meal is a surprise. You choose 3 or 5 courses and tell them any allergens and/or preferences. Also if you want meat or fish if having three courses. They build a menu based on that information. We started with biscuits and goat cheese, followed by a kind of lukewarm soup of potatoes, shallots, and egg. (Which tasted much better than it sounds.) Then a salad of cured lamb, cauliflower, broccoli, and lemon. We both got fish (hake) which came with the most delicious carrot ever plus grapefruit. Who knew fish was good with grapefruit? We got different desserts. Mine was a fabulous deconstructed lemon tarte. I HATE merengue and this had lemon-flavored merengue that was delish. We drank Vouvray because it’s nearby and it was my mom’s favorite wine. We also had pizza at La Scarleta. We probably didn’t need to book there; it was empty when we arrived at 18:30. (But filled up by the time we left.) The Pizz-burger pizza (including pickles) and pizza with sausage, chicken, black olives, and bell peppers was fine, not exciting.
Transportation
We rented a car primarily to get to the chateaus, which can be difficult to reach via public transportation. There are tours that take you around to them but they’re relatively expensive for basically just transportation, force you to a set schedule, and didn’t include the various chateaus we wanted to see. Getting to and from Amboise by train was easy, and Amboise itself is walkable.