Loches & Blois: October 1

Pavane by Fauré

Up early in the fog, after some picture-taking, we headed southeast to Loches, another fortress/chateau used by the royal court. Until Louis XIV built Versailles, the court really had no home. Paris was officially the capital but no one liked the dirty noisy city with its dirty noisy people. Instead the King and his court moved from chateau to chateau in the Loire River valley. It was a comfortable life, constantly on the move, and no noble could really form a base from which to intrigue against the royalty because each was expected to keep moving with the king. Plotting is easier if you're in the privacy of your own home, surrounded only by your own people.

Northward to Blois and the Chateau of Blois. (Incidentally, the word chateau translates to castle, which many were. The term seems to have lost that meaning and now also refers to sort of a big house in the country - like Chateau de Pintray, which could never be confused with a castle or fortress.) In the late afternoon we drove back to Amboise for more ice cream.

Before going into Amboise for dinner that night, we had a talk with M. Rault...rather Al with a limited knowledge of French tried to converse with Rault who had absolutely no knowledge of English. Fortunately, his son Juan Christof is a high school student who could act as translator. Mme (Mrs) Rault runs the hotel portion of the chateau and deals in antiques. M (Mr) Rault maintains the chateau, cultivates the vineyards and produces the wine. The Loire valley produces fair wines, but Rault's is not exported to the U.S. We tasted some that night and bought three bottles to bring home with us. For supper, we drove back to Amboise for pasta.