September 22

I awoke to a start. I remembered needing cash to pay for the two nights in the B&B since Catherine did not take credit cards. There was only one thing I neglected to do yesterday. So, I showered and set off in the car on a money run before breakfast. Going into Chisseaux and Chenonceaux produced no cash machines – heck, no banks. These are little one street towns like most in the area so things were looking bad. The Chateau was not open for tourists yet but I went to the ticket office and asked where I could get money. This was a joke as I speak NO French and could not have understood any answer even if they understood me. Fortunately, the man just stared at me after I asked about a cash machine and said, “Bleary”. I knew I was tired but then remembered a town a little ways away, Blere.

Off I went seven miles west hoping for the best. This was a HUGE town of about five square blocks. Driving through, I found a commercial street with three banks. Getting back to the B&B for breakfast with money, I needed coffee. During breakfast (we were the only ones there that morning) Catherine sat down with us and we talked. We talked about WWII, the American elections, English and French history and any number of topics. It was delightful. We paid and left not really wishing to leave.

Ann really was disappointed not seeing Chateau Villandry’s gardens because of the huge crowds yesterday. We tried it again this Monday morning. What a difference. It was like we owned the place, hardly anyone was there. The gardens recreated the gardens of Medieval abbeys. The functionality and order were apparent immediately. Not a leaf was out of place anywhere in these many acres. There were vegetable gardens, medicinal gardens, meditative ponds and highly structured formal contemplative gardens. In total, quite an amazing display with terraces to view and appreciate the horticultural effort.

We drove straight to St-Emilion arriving four hours later stopping only for diesel and a sandwich on the toll motorway. This little drive set us back $45. Living nowhere near a toll road at home makes paying for the pavement odd.

Our B&B is in the large two story stone mini-chateau with incredibly high ceilings. The house belongs to the owner of a Grand Cru St-Emilion Winery, Chateau Franc-Pourret. The family lives here. There are two rooms available to let, both professionally furnished. This was a pleasant surprise since the outside, though an award winning winery, was tired, stark and cold in appearance. The grapevines surround the house; the harvest is beginning and all are working.

Dinner was at a restaurant featured in Wine Spectator Magazine last year in the center of the tiny town of St-Emilion. The wine was excellent the meal was ok. Butchering beef here in France is apparently not an art. Beef is tough with gristle and fascia throughout. That does distract from a steak but after our fish experience in Mont St. Michel we stick to land food in France.