Day 5

After another huge breakfast, we were greeted by a sunny, womewhat warm day for our day of castle visits. We started out with Chenonceau, the ladies’ castle. It was begun in the 1400s by a royal finance minister and his wife. He got caught skimming where he should not have and came to a bad end, but the wife got to keep the chateau. Later, it came into the hands of king Henri II who gave it to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. She did much to complete the castle, which extends out over the River Cher, and added a large, beautiful garden.

When Henri II died in an unfortunate jousting accident, his wife, Catherine de Medici, decided that the mistress should not live in such an opulent place. Catherine took posession of Chenonceau and installed Diane in a modest mansion some 30 miles away. Catherine left her own mark, adding an Italianate garden to rival that of Diane.

Chenonceau is in a quiet, park-like setting. After the pace of Paris and of Versailles, our group fell in love with Chenonceau, from the beautiful décor to the fresh flowers in each room, to the warm fireplaces to the fish seen swimming in the river, everything was charming. The consensus seemed to be that this was the most beautiful corner of France we had seen. Lydia and Leann want to live on the grounds and Shonica is ready to move into the gardeners’ quarters.

Our time in that special place waned and we headed for the town and chateau of Amboise. Amboise is situated right on the Loire River and the chateau sits on top of a very high hill which overlooks a main road into the town. But before a tour, it was time for lunch.

Lunch is generally on our own, and it is up to me to find an appropriate place. So far, I have done pretty well. Today, we walked around a bit and found a café on the road that borders the Seine. I always enter first and ask if they can accommodate a group of nine. Most cafés only have a bar and a few tables on the main floor. For some cafés, thats it. For others, like this one, there is an upper room that can accommodate more clients.

I explained that we were limited on time and asked if they could suggest something fast. That day, they had two ready-made dishes, lasagne and boeuf bourginionne. (They were ready made in that the chef had come in early that morning and made up quite a bit in advance.) We chose from those and had a wonderful dining experience while still making the rendez-vous on time.

The castle is amazing for its views. It is also a prime example of Renaissance-era building. François I, son of Catherine de Medici and Henri II was raised in this castle. François I was the king who brought Leonardo da Vinci to France. (Leo brought lots of unfinished paintings with him, the Mona Lisa included.) After the French revolution and the restoration of the monarchy, King Louis-Phillippe brought his family to spend summers in Amboise.

The girls enjoyed the castle and the decorations, but I think they most enjoyed running down the spiral staircase and up the spiral tower. Deb, Shonica and Veronica joined some of the others who visited Cluny, da Vinci’s home. I stayed with the others who were interested in a bit of shopping. They enjoyed gelatto while I hit the pharmacie for a knee brace. (My lack of form and my extra weight have taken a toll on my left knee.) We then looked for shops. Many were closed since it was Monday. Most everything is closed on Sunday in France, and shops that are open on Saturday, close on Mondays. We did find a shop open where Delany could buy some pants and a belt, which whe was lacking. We finished with a stop at a Carrefour grocery shop where we bought snacks. There the girls discovered Bueno candy bars and their lives remain forever changed.

After snacking in the sun, we once again climbed aboard the bus and headed this time for the Plou et Fils winery. The vinyards and winery have been in the family since 1508, some 26-28 generations. They have over 200 hectares of vinyard. Mathieu gave us a tour of the caves (which are actually caves) and the operation of making wine. He seemed to take great pleasure in showing us the result of the pressure that builds up in a bottle of wine made in the méthode champagnoise (champagne). Several of us received a small bubbly shower.

From there it was on to the tasting room. Mathieu schooled us in judging the color and viscosity of wine as well as the smell. But most important was the tasting method, how you roll the wine over your tongue and bring in some air to reveal its true nature. We sampled two reds, a rosé, two whites and a sparkling wine. Many of us bought bottles to take home as gifts.

Although Mathieu, the vintner, was entertaining and intelligent, it may have been the two young French boys working in the tasting room who attracted most of the attention of the young women in our large group. The feminine attention, especially from the Wisconsin girls, seemed to drive the boys away in pretty short order.

From the wine tasting, we headed for the cooking school. France offers technical training for some high school students. The students who study at the school are in training to be chefs, sous-chefs and even servers. In France, being a server is not something one does while trying to be something else (actor, artist, etc.). Serving in a restaurant is a profession unto itself, and a proud one at that.

We divided into groups to do the cooking, of course with the help of the professional instructors. Some of us were to do the “starter.” In France, the dish served at the beginning of the meal is called the entrée and the main dish is the plat principal. In order not to confuse us, they referred to the first dish as the starter. Veronica and LeAnn were paired for the starter as I was with Mrs. Kerska, the teacher from Wisonsin.

We prepared a soup made of pumpkin, leeks, onion, garlic, potatoes and interestingly, chestnuts. After we diced and sautéed all the ingredients except the chestnuts, Jean gave us this cool hand-held machine which proceeded to purée all the ingredients. He seasoned with crème fraiche and a bit of salt. It was really good!

Ashleee, Lydia, and Kenzie worked on the main dish and Deb and Delany worked on dessert. Michael worked on the shrimp risotto. The entire meal came together with each group who created the dish serving it to the others and giving an explanation. It really was fun! And the meal was excellent.

Several of the girls fell for Jean’s son, Maxime, who worked to help clean up. The got his Facebook information. We all accused Caroline Wehner of purposely forgetting her purse when we left. Hmmm...