Thursday. Saumur, Visiting Les Chateaux

Chris' photographs begin to show some of the beautiful and surprising places we have seen today. The Chateau de la Dame de Montsoreau was especially surprising for the exhibition we walked through, recreating in models, pictures and sound something of the feel of the Loire in past centuries. There was a real sense of a maritime community, with boats of many kinds travelling up, and down the river, carrying produce as varied as lace, fine fabrics, spices, nuts and dried fruits, silk, and much agricultural produce. The music created a mood of nostalgia and the models of boats, mills, waterside buildings were truly excellent, as were the beguiling soft focus images of the countryside. The story of La Dame is a real life drama of forbidden love, a duel and a death. Told by Alexander Dumas.
On a different level altogether, it was a pleasure to see thirty or forty house martins swooping and calling to each other, diving in and out of their nests on the steep, pale sandstone coloured walls of the chateau, swirling out over the Loire and back to the walls over and over again.
The Abbaye de Fontevraud, 12th century monastery, was impressive in a different way, and surprising too in that almost on entry we saw the graves and effigies of King Henry 2nd of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine, his Queen, and their son Richard 1st of England (Richard the Lionheart). The film 'The Lion in Winter' with Kathryn Hepburn and Peter O'Toole, tells a story of Henry, Richard and Eleanor in 1183.
Chateau de Breze...an underground chateau with another chateau above it. Amazing. Caves and tunnels, underground cave stables, cave kitchens and wine cellars. Quite unlike anything we had seen before.