September 20

Absolutely nothing unexpected happened during our two-hour drive to Chateau de Chambord in the Loire Valley. This in itself is worth mentioning (for obvious reasons). When we arrived we were well-rested and happy ready to “do” the Loire Valley.

We walked to the chateau from the parking lot, about a mile. We walked far away from the chateau just to get the, as Allan says, money shot of the building in the brilliant blue sky. Then we toured the chateau – all four levels going up and down the stone staircase with the exactly four hundred thousand seven hundred and fifteen TOURISTS also enjoying the beautiful weather and magnificent building. Everyone else spoke French. Apparently, most of the Americans, Italians, and Brits have gone home.

After a leisurely wandering through the huge chateau we decided on lunch before heading out again. In a little creperie on the grounds we each ordered a Croque Chevalier – ham and cheese sandwich fried with a fried egg on top. A quarter liter of vin rouge was the accompaniment. Waiting for the food over our red wine, we discussed the differences between the American and French Revolutions and how those differences created the two different national systems.

Then we moved the discussion into how the revolution in France was more of an upheaval of the downtrodden where in America it was a reluctant separation of the colony from the mother country. All we needed were black clothes, berets, a cigarette dangling from our lips in a smoky café in Paris and we would have been considered truly French.

The meal came and we became Americans again thankfully.

After that adventure, we went to our B&B that I booked and confirmed but never got the last confirmation I ask for 10 days before we left. I had no idea if we had a place to stay. We did. We are a mile from the Chateau de Chenonceau in a one-bedroom apartment called the pavillion with sitting room. Not bad. The owners are not too fluent in English but that is ok. Off we went to the second chateau of the day.

In both Chateaux we received free parking and discounted entrance fees because we were Americans and because we, as a nation, liberated the French from two major wars. Ha! No, it was some sort of special weekend we never understood but took the discounts anyhow. Chenonceau is a chateau that spans the river Cher. It is simply beautiful in the deep blue September sky. Again, there were tourists there. What’s with that?

I have a new rant. This is a good one. This is not directed at the French but to tourists in general. As we walked from room to room with the hordes of still and video camera laden people, I noticed that it seemed much more important for them to get a picture of each four walls of a room and the ceiling than to stop and take in the beauty of what they were seeing. One man walked into each room with his video camera over his head taking a video of the room I am sure he never saw until he looked at the video at home. I take pictures but rarely inside buildings and always after evaluating what I am looking at for historical or artistic significance. Everyone had a little camera and shot flash images. At some point, this has to stop for the enjoyment of those who wish to simply enjoy the environment. Rant over.

Dinner was a bottle of Touraine red (cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon), cheese, an olive baguette and a bag of mushroom flavored potato chips. Yes, that was mushroom flavored potato chips. Interestingly they were quite good but I don’t know why. With that, we went to bed…