10 - 5/10/2015 on to Amboise

Sunday - May 10

After six hours of driving from Dordogne brought us to our next three nights in Amboise in the Loire Valley. As a sidebar, when Norm is driving, if the stretch between breaks extends longer than usual, there are consequences. Forty-seven years ago Norm drove a very circuitous route in his 1963 MGB from Washington D.C. to California. After three or four hours behind the wheel he could jump out of the car and do calisthenics. Now, after a too-long stretch behind the wheel, getting out of the Peugeot may involve standing for a moment to think about what the musculature is doing, followed by a tentative few steps. It reminds him of the scene at the end of Dr. Strangelove, before the movie fades to exploding H-bombs, when Peter Sellers as Strangelove rises from his wheelchair, takes a halting step forward and shouts to the President of the U.S. "Mein Fuehrer, I can walk!". Well, that's certainly more dramatic than Norm at a roadside rest area shouting "Pam, I can walk!", but the feeling's mutual. Not that the Peugeot isn't comfortable, in fine French fashion it is, but sitting a couple of hours in a Jacuzzi whirlpool instead would be quite more soothing. Still, the rewards far exceed the occasional atrophied ligament.

We passed by Limoges, but stopped in Poitiers to see (you guessed it) one of the 10 best cathedrals in France.  After viewing so many on this trip so far, it was ok but nothing to write home about. ( ok, we are writing home...)

Our other stop today was the Cathedral St-Gatien in Tours. What a difference! Much more impressive.  The stained glass is beautiful!  Just a pleasure to view the elaborate facade and then walk all through it. A great deal of deep stone cleaning and refinishing has already been carried out inside and out. When the grunge is cleared away and the surfaces restored to the original off-white the effect on reflected light and airiness is dramatic. The feeling is no longer one of gloom and decay, a place where Bela Lugosi might be found napping beneath the nave. There are fireworks and then there are Fireworks.

Restoration is ongoing:

Amboise has a tourist trolley too:

Enjoying some wine and food fixings on the terrace of our hotel room, we are on the riverfront in the heart of Amboise. A good location to see Loire Valley sights over the next couple of days.