Another day in the Loire, started off sunny and then clouded over, then at the end of the day became one of those clear blue skied, almost frosty late afternoons, and now though only 5 pm it has a pink through violet hue. We weren't sure of our plan today last night, we decided the weather could chose our destiny- fine and we would stay around here exploring chateaux, bad and we would head north.
So after we had hot showers (a rare treat) and doing a little hand-washing and consuming a breakfast of hot porridge we headed off towards the first chateau. We actually decided to go to Amboise and see the town and chateau there but as the weather was deteriorating the further west we went we gave Amboise a miss and instead diverted to Cheverney a Chateau just 10 minutes down the road from our camp-site. It was a good choice, the weather now was grey and rather cool, but the grounds lovely. We started by looking at the 100 hounds they keep for hunting. They are French beagles, much bigger than the English variety, but otherwise they look the same. They were all housed together in a concrete pen with a large indoor area where they could shelter and sleep if they wanted. They seemed happy enough- though I imagine quite bored, they sometimes looked as if they might play together but instead just barked or put their front feet up on the wall so we could pat them through the wire fence. They stank, if I may be so bold. I guess that many hounds would, so we didn't linger! Next to the kennels was the pottager garden, not looking its most luxuriant due to the season, but quite delightfully displayed with strips of colour and large through small pumpkins left lying about as decoration but also I guess for composting. We went into the chateau itself next, only about half the house or less is open to the public as the current owners live in the rest of the building. I can't remember exactly how many rooms we visited, about a dozen I guess, with drawing rooms, bedrooms, a library, dining room and kitchens all on display. Really fully decorated, not a spot on the walls, ceiling, floor that didn't have paint, paper, carving or some other embellishment and then with strident (for want of a better word) furniture to add to the cacophony. If you like colours and action then this is the place for you, though I'm not sure how the man of the house ever slept as his room was a mismatch of gold, red and green of every pattern imaginable. Poor bugger must have had nightmares.
After the chateau we went to the Tin Tin exhibition which is a permanent display as the chateau was said to be the inspiration for the house Tin Tin lives in, certainly if you took the front left and right rounded wings off Cheverney it looks just like the one in Tin Tin. By the time we had looked at the exhibition and a bit more of an explore around the garden at the back of the chateau and of course a wee look in the shop, it was 4 o'clock and so too late for visits anywhere else. So we returned to our campground and had cups of tea and a French pastry in the truck as we watched the last rays of sunshine disappearing across the field behind us as the sun sank below the horizon (at 5 o'clock!!!).
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