Les & Jer’s Trip to France, May 1989
Sunday May 21st – San Francisco to Paris
Flight UTA 502 left San Francisco at 9:52pm and arrived in Paris at 4:25pm the next day. Paris is 9 hours later than San Francisco, so our body clocks were a little off. The Hotel De Seze was to be our home for five nights in Paris. It was all a blur until we picked up our little red Renault which we would drive for two weeks seeing a bit of the country.
Saturday May 27th – Paris to Mont St Michel
It’s 350km from Paris, quite a long 7 hour drive in unfamiliar countryside. But seeing le Mont St Michel was worth it. What a site, rising as it does from the flat countryside. We stayed in Mere Poulard in a very nice room, feeling safe within the walls of St Michel.
Sunday May 28th – Dinan
Saw St Malo. a seaside resort town and stayed in Dinan for the night.
Monday May 29th – Saumur
My diary says "through La Baule" which I think was the "riviera" of Western France. Overnight in Saumur.
Tuesday May 30th – Saumur and Loire River area
Saumur, which we found out we can’t pronounce, is a pretty town on the banks of the Loire River. We visited Chinon which is actually the ruins of an old fortified citadel, sits above the town, with three separate towers connected by bridges. Interesting history, amazing to see where those old events happened.
A short walk brought us to L’Echo, which we didn’t know the meaning of, until Les yelled. It seemed to echo off the castle walls. We bought goodies for lunch and ate on some abandoned steps by a river where we saw a sign with a picture of a car going into the water. I guess that’s the international sign for "don’t go near the water?"
We drove to Usse, a very large chateau in pretty good condition, considering its age. It’s amazing how many rooms these chateaux have, even dungeons!
Then on to Chateau du Gerfaut, our palace for the night. We checked in, and decided that tonight we’d see the light show at Azay. So, first, for dinner we went to L’Aigle d’Or, and it was fabulous! Les had lobster, aspargus and morels, and I had the best foie gras I’d ever had. Main courses were saumon and sole avec safron for Les, boef avec truffles for me, and both were extraordinary. The wine was Domaine Allais from Indre-a-Loire a Vouvray, which Les really liked. Encour en boutille! Loire through a straw! The fromage course was a plat du fromage of camerbert, fabulous, and fromage de chevre frais en fraiselle (in a cup), fantastic mild goat cheese avec chives.
The light show at Azay le Rideau was a story of a princess and her forbidden lover, and they played it out, rowing across the pond, and appearing here and there in the windows of the chateau, as objects of lightplay and music to accentuate the story. It was very different and enjoyable.
Wednesday May 31st – Chateau du Gerfaut
Ah, awakening in a chateau with all the servants at your beck and call! Oh, I was still dreaming! This chateau is not a palace, but more like a very big, quiet house, and very hospitable. Les went for an early morning walk, and I met him for petit dejuner at 8:30, which was coffee and croissants with homemade jams. While we were buttering our croissants, a young New Orleans student who is studying in London came in to order coffee for his jet-lagged parents; I know the feeling. Other overnighters arrived for breakfast, the people from Vashon Island.
Soon we’re off to see more chateaux, first to Azay le Rideau, which is very impressive, although not as dramatic as it is at night for the light show. Toured some very lovely rooms, a nice balance between exterior and interior upkeep. The chateau is still privately owned.
Morning was cloudy, but the sun came out and so our cheerfulness. We picked up some cheese at a small outdoor market and a baguette, salads, wine and dessert, and headed for Villandry. A tree-lined lane looked like an inviting place for lunch, so that’s where we ate. After our enjoyable lunch, we spent a couple of hours gamboling mostly in the gardens at Villandry. What an amazing amount of work must be involved in keeping up the extensive beautiful grounds.
Then we were off to visit a winery called Chateau de L’Aulce, a very modern version of a small chateau, reminding me of Chateau St Jean. (See the picture.) On to a gay chateau! Near Richlieu is a chateau owned by John Hadman, which caters to gay clientele. It’s an older chateau, but looks like a chateau, nonetheless. It’s my kind of place, with Rolls Royces and Bentleys parked in front! John bought the 16-room chateau in 1985. Furnished with his grandparents’ furniture from England, it has an open, comfortable feeling. It didn’t seem to have the closed off "prive" areas as Gerfaut does, making it seem that you are in his home. He’s not much on gardening, as the grounds are not well maintained. As he plied us with Kirs, he told of the 85 people he had hosted recently from the Paris JO club! However, his guests are usually mixed, many from car clubs. Before we left, we gave him some of the goat cheese we had purchased earlier in the day.
It was back to Gerfaut for dinner with the Marquis and his wife. They served venison, although they had promised to serve us wild boar! The pureed wild chestnuts were unusual, and for dessert they served us fraises from their grounds with whipped fresh cheese, yumm!
We enjoyed the Marquis and Marquise, with his stories of the German occupation. Then we were off to bed. It is so quiet here – I like it!
Thursday June 1st – Amboise
A continental breakfast sets us off from Chateau Gerfaut and our plan is to see Chenenceau and more if we can. We drove toward Tours and decided to bypass it and had lunch on a little outdoor terrace in Blere. Les had a great hors d’ouevres plate and I had filet mignon which I found out can also be pork! But, it was delicious.
As you get near the river, the countryside gets very pretty, with rolling hills of wheat and vines. Our arrival at Chenenceau was greeted by a beautiful entrance through a long avenue of very tall plane trees. Sitting right on the river, the chateau is quite a site. It’s a private chateau and very popular. The rooms are well kept or restored, and it was interesting to see the kitchens that were inside the support columns that sit in the river. The rose garden was very beautiful with all pink roses and flowers. The literature told of the great history of all the various royalty that lived here; and now here we are!
On to Amboise, a nice little old town. The streets are very narrow and ancient looking. We found a three star hotel where we could see the Amboise chateau from our room windows. We had asked for a room on the derriere! The chateau was very picturesque with all its flags flying.
Our dinner consisted only of Snackys, wine and pastry, since we had such a large lunch.
Friday June 2nd – Saint-Dye-Sur-Loire
Included today were Amboise, Vouvray, Chambord, and hotel Manoir Bel Air.
We toured the chateau at Amboise which sits high up on the bank overlooking our hotel and the Loire river. The history of its inhabitants is rich. Leonardo DaVinci’s remains are in the chapel, and we visited Clos Luce where he lived his last four years. His nearby house contained a very interesting exhibit of his inventions recreated by IBM!
It was sprinkling off and on, our first on tour, but it was not a problem. We had coffee and pastries at a nice little place on the narrow cobblestone streets. More money was needed, so we changed 2900 in francs. So, now on to Vouvray.
Les wanted to see Chateau Vouvray Moncontour to celebrate the many bottles of such he has downed. It’s there all right, a big private mansion that can only be viewed from the grounds. We toured through the caves, and wondered why all the kids were there; seems early to be teaching them winemaking! Then we found the Petit Ferme, and knew why.
Our day’s journey then took us to Cheverny, and although it’s not listed as a three star chateau, we enjoyed its manicured look and style. The rooms are very well done and many have been open to the public just a few years.
Chambord was our next stop, 
and it’s huge by comparison. It
has 400 rooms! And, they are so large! There are only 365 fireplaces, so I guess
there are 35 very cold rooms! A unique dual spiral staircase was the formal
entrance. The chateau is impressive only by its size and looks better from a
distance.
We drove on toward Blois and stopped at a little hotel for overnight, the Manoir du Bel Air at St-Dye-sur-Loire; what a name! The room was OK, and we had a nice dinner at the hotel where we met Michel. It was very quiet and our room had a nice overlook of the Loire.
Saturday June 3rd – Autun (in Burgundy)
Enough of castles and chateaux – we’re on to red wine country! It was raining today and our stupid car’s wiper, singular you notice, doesn’t work well. Fortunately, it didn’t rain all the time. The terrain became a little hillier, but those wheat fields were ever present.
We made it to Bourges at noon and were lucky enough to get in on the end of an investiture or something at the cathedral. What an impressive sight! The cathedral is about twice as long as Grace Cathedral, and has gorgeous stained glass windows. It’s rather dull and weathered on the exterior, but still quite a site, crowded among the cobblestone streets. We had lunch in an old section nearby and window shopped before heading on.
The road became hilly and looked more like back home with evergreens and valleys. Then we arrived at Autun. It became quite apparent that this is where they train the gendarmes: there were lots of cadets all over the town. It’s a hillside town with some cobblestone streets. All the hotels we checked were "complet", so frazzled as we were, we checked into a new RestHotel, which was small, but brand new and quite nice, for $30.
Dinner was in town at a wonderful restaurant. Les had smoked fish and raie. I had asperges in flake pastry and duck. Desserts were a Symphony of Chocolate, Nougat Glace on a raspberry bed. Wonderful meal!
Sunday June 4th – Beaune
The capital of Burgundy. Wow! What beautiful hills covered with vineyards, and there are ‘caves’ to visit. Since it was Sunday, many places were closed, but we saw the vineyards of Puligny Montrachet, Chassagne Montrachet. Luckily, Chateau Mersault was open and we took a tour. It was a wonderful place, with caves below the grounds, 500,000 bottles in little caves! They gave you a little tasting cup, and you poured your own tastes while still in the caves – terrific!
Then we went on to Pommard, driving through little roads in the vineyards walled by stone fences. We learned that a vineyard in stone walls is a clos! At Pommard, the guide only spoke French, so we and a couple went with him on a little tour of their cellar, which was actually a old large building set partly underground. We tasted the ’82 Chateau Pommard which was great, but didn’t want to pay $30 for a bottle, even though that was probably cheap.
We stayed overnight in Beaune.
Monday June 5th – Dijon and Chateau de Malans
Beaune is a charming town with cobblestone streets, and partially walled in. We must leave, however, for the vineyards call! Before going on, we had coffee and pastry in a little patisserie. Darn, even the large cups are too small for us Americans.
On the way to Dijon, we thought we’d take the back roads, but got somewhat lost, which afforded us some nice country views. Chateau Savigny-les-Beaune was very pretty, and we took a picture to prove it to our friends. Our day’s journey then took us on up through the vineyards to Nuits St George and Vosnee Romanee. We tried to find Clos Vouget by following the signs, but the road was being worked on and we never found it even though we thought we were close, and parked and walked the lanes. A road worker probably temporarily took down the critical sign we needed. However, we found Chateau de la Tour and saw them bottling their wine at the side of their building with a moveable bottler.
Further on, we drove through Gevry Chambertin, and enjoyed seeing places with all these famous names! Our destination was Dijon, which is the largest town we’d been in since escaping Paris, and I was a little apprehensive about driving in town. But, it’s like a calm Paris, and a very nice city, with flags flying above the cobblestone streets. Lunch was typically good at a very tasteful restaurant. After lunch, we toured the Beaux Arts museum in the Ducs of Burgundy Palace. Their collection is impressive, in France second only to the Louvre. On our city stroll, we found Davidoff, the parfumer, neato! We had read about a great place for dinner, and so we made our reservation at JP Billoux in the Hotel Cloche for the next night.
Then, we were off to our night’s destination, the Chateau Malans where we had booked two nights. The hills became more rolling, but not mountainous yet. The chateau was not hard to find, and we were greeted by Mr. Hoyet, who entertained us in the afternoon salon with Kirs and cookies. He had been an Air France director and lived in L.A. for five years. At the chateau, he has an au paire from Germany who prepared our simple evening meal. The chateau is very old, not large, and made of all stone. It’s nicely decorated, and has a knight in armor guarding our room. There was no heat in the chateau, chilly!
Tuesday June 6th – Chateau de Malans
Our breakfast was the same as everywhere – bread, juice, and coffee. Then off we were on a countryside tour, through Pesmes (pronounced Pehm), where we found a quaint Dole(?) and bought picnic things. We came across a nice little spot on a bridge by a stream, and while we were munching away, a guy on a bicycle came by and called "bon appetit" to us!
Our route then took us to Besacon, the capital of Franche Comte. The old town is nice and has a great old citadel and the usual cobblestone streets. It’s quite a hilly town with very little parking. Their parking meters are smart, and dispense tickets that you must purchase. A focal point is the cathedral that they started building in 1050.
We then drove back to "our" chateau, and then on to Dijon for dinner at JP Billoux. It was a fantastic dinner, only $180! We had 18 pieces of silverware each; those French and their flatware! We had mushroom tart, kirs, lobster, sole, lamb, cheese, three desserts and coffee. Our wine was from Santenay. JP came around to greet us. The dining room is a lovely stone cave below the hotel.
Wednesday June 7th – Fountainbleu
Sorry to have to leave Chateau Malans; it was meant to be our new home! The sun was out and it was a beautiful morning in the country. Ully, one of the au paire rode with us to Dijon, where we dropped her off and picked up some mustard. You can’t go to Dijon without bringing home mustard!
On our way, taking M. Hoyet’s advice, we avoided the truck route and saw several interesting chateaux sitting along the roadway. We stopped to view the abbey at Fontenay, nestled in its little valley with it cloisters. The automobile museum at the small chateau Ancy le Franc had a fabulous 1903 Renault and a few other old cars. The road was pretty good and we drove through the Fountainbleu forest to get to the chateau, which is the primary focal point for the village adjacent. Our hotel was right next to the chateau. We walked the streets to find our dining spot for the evening. It’s so close to Paris that the prices are higher and it has some of the same shops, such as Hediards. Our dinner at Chez Arrighi was very nice, saumon in orange sauce and veal tenderloin. We are looking forward to touring Fountainbleu tomorrow.
Thursday June 8th – Fountainbleu
This is a pleasant village. On our morning walk, we found the usual pastry and coffee. It was probably the best pastry we had on the trip. On our tour of the Fountainbleu Chateau, we visited the royal apartments. Talk about grand! They were splendid, and we would think a little overdone, but quite a sight to see.
Lunch was in our room, and was cheese, bread, salads and the like. Then we were off again, and had a little difficulty finding the right road signs to Vaux le Vicomte. But, it was worth the trouble. The setting for the chateau is beautiful, and the rooms are even more magnificent than Fountainbleu! The gardens are exceptional, although very formally laid out, without many flowers. The fountains weren’t running, but they must add a grand touch when they are. There was a wonderful exhibit of old carriages too.
We had seafood for dinner before a kir and retiring.
Friday June 9th – Chantilly
This is pronounced chan-tee-yee we found out. At Fountainbleu we bought some strawberries from the market in the square, and had some more good pastry at our favorite patisserie. Then we packed up and drove to Senlis – what a relief to get away from the city bustle and on to Chantilly. In Chantilly, we found our hotel, the Chateau de la Tour, a little pretentious of a name, since we saw the real one in Bourgogne! But, it was a nice place. While they chilled our champagne, we went into Chantilly and toured the chateau. It’s a great place, with thousands of paintings. Our guide toured us in English, the first one on our trip who asked what language we’d prefer. He made the tour interesting. The rooms are similar to Versailles, with all the white and gold.
We came back to the hotel, drank our champagne and made kir royales on the hotel terrace. Had to drink up that cassis! It was a restful and very pretty place. For dinner, we went to La Tipperary and had excellent veal tenderloin and lapereau, with fabulous asperges soup. The sliced avocado and eggplant tartar was great.
Saturday June 10th – Montgolfiere!
We had seen a poster announcing a hot-air balloon event, and we asked when it was: 7am Saturday. Rather early for a holiday, I’d say.
However, up we were and went to see them. What a site, in front of the Chateau Chantilly, puffing up those giant stretches of nylon and lighting the gas to lift them off. It was very colorful and fun to see.
Then it was pastry time, and we picked up some on the way back to the hotel to pack for the home trip. We had lunch at the hotel, and then went to see the horse museum before heading for the airport and our flight home.