The Food of Tours

Food is probably my second favorite part of traveling. Everywhere that I go I try new and different food that just blows me away. Above is a cabbage, for some reason the Britons like to make them look like flowers. So there are hundreds of cabbages on display in pots outside of restaurants.

The Loire Valley is a wine region. On both sides of the Loire vineyards stretch with ancient vines. Everywhere there are signs for wine tastings dégustations. The wines Sancerre and Muscadet are probably the Loire's most famous wines, but their region is growing in popularity. Above is the wine that was offered every night at the hotel.

The first night started out well with a fresh salad that had a very light balsamic vinegar dressing. The sides of the plate were dressed with paprika. Just in case you like it spicey I guess. But it was a good salad anyway. There is a green here that tastes really good, not like crunch water but something else and I can't really describe it. Not bitter, but not sweet. Just good.

I forgot to photograph the chicken cause I was the last served and I ate it as soon as they gave it to me. It was breaded chicken with pasta. I found the pasta really difficult to eat mostly because I have been attempting to use my left hand. Because if you haven't noticed the fork is upside down on the left. I'm used to it being on the other side and right side up. The French eat with their left hand on the fork and the right on the knife. And, for the full experience I'm doing the same. And it's hard to eat pasta like that.

For desert was chocolate mousse. It had a small bit of cream sauce, and a little bit of fruit. The sides of the plate were dusted with cocoa powder. The mousse was light and fluffy, like air made out of chocolate. The best things in the world are chocolate. Have you every experienced that tingling sensation when you listen to good music? Scientifically it's the releasing of dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that affects your motivation, and basically makes you experience pleasure. Most people receive this feeling when they listen to good music. I get it when I eat some good chocolate.

After diner we went out. Above is what is know and a Kir. A kir is white wine with a shot of some flavored syrup. I got strawberry, and it was OK. I haven't developed a taste for wine yet. It still just tastes like church.

Breakfast the next day was nothing special. Yogurt and cereal. Tea. So I didn't bother taking pictures of it. But lunch was better. We went to the Manoir Bel Air. And, like the good trombone, child of the 90's that I am, I quietly sang the Fresh Prince theme song. 

I love how everything is so awesomely perfect here. All the tables looked expertly prepared for the same courses for everyone and I learned how to read the table. The fork on the outside means that there will be salad, but the small knife on the outside means that something will come with the salad. You see, it is impolite to eat salad with a knife, since when knives were made of silver the dressing would cause them to corrode. So something cutable would come with the salad. The next knife is not a fish knife nor a steak knife so I could assume we would have some softer meat. The small fork and spoon above the napkin meant that desert would require both, which excited me.

The first course was salad, and salmon with fried cheese triangles. The salad didn't have any dressing on it so it wasn't that great. But the fried cheese was fabulous. Being from a place where cheese curds are nearly a dietary staple, I was pleased to find a distant cousin of my favorite snack. The salmon was good, but I couldn't get around how it wasn't really shaped like salmon anymore.

The main plate was fabulous. It was duck fillets accompanies with  potato encased pulled duck. The sauce was something extraordinary. It was savory and complimented the duck really nicely. There were chopped onions and carrots and also some what I think is celerey. But it was hearty and filling and I was very pleased.

The desert however looked better than it tasted. There was strawberry icecream covered in a berry sauce that was too cold for the day in which we ate it. The brownie muffin thing was rather dry and tasteless. And the chocolate holder for the mixed fruit tasted like a dried hostess cupcake. But it was terrible for being part of the money I've already paid.

That night was my first French soup. It was a lot like butternut squash soup, but without so much butter. I went at it with three or four dinner rolls and was satisfied.

 Which was a good thing because the fish wasn't that awesome. Th sauce and the rice under it were. Oh my God I love rice and sauce. If I had to live on something for a while it would be potatoes and rice and sauce. The sauce had a rich flavor, but was creamy and buttery at the same time. While the rice was cooked to a perfection under it.

And for desert was strawberry mouse. It was heavenly. The whipped cream was not whipped cream but fresh aerated cream that must have come strait from the plate of God. The sauce, so thick with strawberry goodness would have made even the most resilient dieter weak in the knees. It was phenomenal. 

 At the Château d'Amboise there was a chocolate shop. And that my friends is no ordinary bread. That is chocolate bread, pain au chocolat. It was warm with chocolate sitting on the inside, like a surprise birthday party. The bread was so light, and the chocolate so rich. It was a very nice snack.

That day we had lunch at the Lion d'Or, the lion of gold. It was a very nice looking place, with a very odd looking bathroom that reminded me of the O'Harport in Chicago.

So from the placement of silverware, salad with something not salady, something that requires cutting but not too much, and for desert something easily cuttable, or spoonable.

The salad had a nice balsamic on it, but once again the dressing was too sparse, maybe just a teaspoon more would have really set the salad apart. The bread thing was filled with steaming hot chevre or goat cheese. It was great until the last two bites. I had too much cheese left for my bread, so the strong cheese was a tad overpowering. But over all it was a nice entrée. (By the way entrée is the entrance to the meal, not the meal itself.)

The main plate was what I think was some for of meat, they told me it was turkey but, have you ever seen turkey like that? I haven't. So I don't think it's turkey. But it had a very nice buttery potato smile, and a nice thin sauce, with a baked carrot that was perfectly tender. BUT hinding like a bandit in the night, underneath the meat, was a heaping pile of mushrooms. I don't care for mushrooms.

So I did something creative with them.

 

The desert was an apple thing. Like a turnover, with caramel and sugar all over it. It tasted very nice, and the bread was very flaky and light, but also warm. The little fruit that came with it was somewhere between a tomato and a orange, it was sweet, but tart at the same time. And I have no idea what it was,

Hopefully the food of Tours looks as good as it tasted.

Château de Chenonceau

Latter that same day, we went to the Château de Chenonceau, which was my second favorite castle in the Loire Valley. This is the château of women, seven women took part in the creation and preservation of this splendid castle. Catherine Briçonnet, Diane de Poitier, Catherine de Medici, Louise de Lorraine, Louise Dupin, Marguerite Pelouze and Simone Menier.

The sphinxes that protect the entrance to the walkway that leads to the castle are not original to the castle. They came for the château de Chanteloup that had been destroyed in the XIXth century. This castle was somewhere in the Amboise forest, and only a small remnant of it remains.

The Chapelle at Chenonceau was the smallest chapel by far. But its history is interesting. The stained glass windows, vitraux, are from 1954 because the original ones were destroyed when the Allies attempted to bomb the Nazis. Although it was small its bright windows and nice paintings made it look beautiful. 

This picture of the Three Graces hangs in the salon of François I. Its a beautiful renaissance room with soft yellow walls and a glowing fireplace. The painting done in the 1700's depicts the three graces as three of the king's mistresses, the Mailly-Nesle sisters.

 Louise Dupin had the château in 1706. And she was a well read women who brought education to Chenonceau. She entertained guests such as Montesquiue and Voltaire. And she even had Jean-Jacques Rousseau stay to tutor her children.

Above is the room of Diane de Poitier. Diane, the mistress of Henri II created the bridge over the river Cher. This is probably Chenonceau's most recognizabel attribute. He gave her the castle because she was his favorite mistress. She helped to create the large formal gardens.

 

 In the center of the main part of the castle there is a grand staircase. It isn't super fancy, but the stairs lead up to the center vestibules on each floor. The turn was a little ominous on the way down because there were large drops from the pivot of the stairs.

 At the bottom of the grand staircase there is the kitchen. There where separate rooms for baking, cooking and preparing meat. There were also many different utensils used in the kitchen ranging from the copper pots on the left, and the hooks and knives on the right, to the mortar and pastel on the bottom. In each room there was a head of some animal that had been killed and most likely eaten.

This is the chamber of the five Queens, the two daughters and the three daughters in law of Catherine de Medici. Margot the wife of Henri IV, Mary Stuart, Elisabeth de France, Elisabeth d'Autriche and Louise de Lorraine.

Louise de Lorraine, the daughter in law of Catherine de Medici and wife of Henri III, was left the château her mother in law. Upon the death of her husband, Henri III, she had her room decorated in black, with a small kneeler in which she could pray for his soul. He was assassinated during the Wars of Religion by a fanatic monk but was probably the best son of Catherine.

 This is the chamber of Catherine de Medici. Catherine, after the death of Henri II, chased Diane out the castle. Afterwards she made the bridge over the Cher into a gallery that is absolutely beautiful. She also made a formal garden to rival that of Diane.

It made me really happy, in a sorta evil way, that the portait above of Catherine was not hung in her room but rather the room of Diane de Poitier. I think Catherine would have liked the idea that she is the most dominant figure in Diane's room. A nice way to stick it to her I think.

 This beautifully long gallery was made by Catherine de Medici. She added this on top of the bridge that Diane made. They celebrate Christmas until Febuary in France, so there was still decorations lining the black and white gallery. Along both walls are faces of famous people. It has 18 windows each that face out onto the river Cher  Simone Menier, during the First World War, was a nurse and Chenonceau was turned into a hospital. The castle also facilitated escape from Nazi occupied France in the Second World War to the free zone on the opposite bank of the Cher River.

This vine covered Rapunzel tower is all that remains of the first castle here. It's called the Tour des Marques and was once part of a larger construction that was razed in the process of making Chenonceau by Thomas Briçonnet, a royal chamberlain in the 16th century.

Catherine Briçonnet was the wife fo the royal chamberlain and helped construct the castle. He husband Thomas acquired the castle in 1512 and she over saw its construction. She thought of a way to have all the room in the main part of the château lead off from a central vestibule on each floor. Hence the grand hallways.

Marguerite Pelouze, whom I couldn't get a picture of, bought the castle in 1863 and tried to restore it to the the way Catherine Briçonnet would have wanted. Luckily she ran out of money before she could tear down Catherine de Medici's gallery.   

Although it is January, the gardens jardins were still quite beautiful. The grounds are wonderful, along with the Gardens of Diane and Catherine, there is also a 17th century farm ferme, flower gardens potager des fleurs, lines of trees and a park of donkeys parc aux ânes. There is also a hedge maze labyrinthe and some caryatides a sculpted figure that takes the place of a supporting column.

Over all, I found Chenonceau beautiful. 

Château d'Amboise

The next day of the weekend, which started out particularly foggy, we went to the Château d'Amboise. Amboise is a real castle.  Before the French got to it, Amboise was a Gaelic oppidum, a large defensive settlement. It was a favorite place of many kings, from when Charles VII confiscated it from a plotting Duc, up until the tragic events with king François II in 1560. After that month the château fell into disfavor with the court, and was since abandoned. 

It stands a top a large hill (its bigger than the ski hill that we have in my hometown, yet they still call it a hill). It over looks the Loire River, the longest river in France. It also looks over the city of Amboise that grew up around the large fortress.

 The first thing we saw was the Chapelle Saint Hubert. It was made as the personal chapel for the royals living at Amboise. In the flamboyant Gothic style during the reign of Louis XI from 1461 to 1483. But it was added upon by his son, Charles VIII.

The stone that makes up the chapel and also the most of the other buildings in the Loire Valley is called "tuffeau" or freestone in English. It is very similar to limestone made from calcite. Also it is very easy to mold and carve into therefore it was the preferred stone for making the flamboyant castles and chapels of the Valley.

 The saint who the chapel is named for it Saint Hubert, a French royal turned saint. He was the son of the Duke of Aquitaine, but when Hubert's wife died in childbirth he retreated into a life of hunting. On the morning of Good Friday around 670 C.E. he went out for to hunt a hart. When he was about to corner the incredible beast, it turned and had a crucifix in its antlers. A voice then told him that if he didnt turn from his capricious ways he would go to hell. He immediately went to become a holy man giving up his title to his younger brother Odo.

But probably the most interesting thing about the chapel is that it is the final resting place of Leonardo da Vinci. He was a great friend of the king François I, and spent the last years of his life at the manor that François granted him free of charge, Clos-Lucé. He was the first painter, architect and engineer of the king. Although he didn't paint much while he was there, he did organize grand parties and festivals for the King, and designed some of parts of his castle.

The inside of the castle was relatively pretty. It fell into a state of disrepair after the Kings abandoned it, but a family has been working slowly to repair the years of neglect. Its the ceilings and beautiful designs were still impressive. The ceilings were so tall that more than two levels could fit into each floor. The fireplaces were also ornately designed.

"Les murs ont des oreilles." A popular French proverb artfully decorated one corner. In the king's court there was a lot of intrigue, as always, with plots and affairs and the occasional assassination. The architect here tried to keep the court honest by reminding them that their secrets might be found out because the walls have ears. But those ears heard very little after 1560 until the French Revolution

After the French Revolution Louis-Philippe, the constitutional monarch of France owned the castle. He, and his family were highly involved in the triangle trade in the new world. Louis-Philippe spent many years in the United States, teaching French and being a very productive politician  meeting George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and George Clinton (fourth vice president of the United States.)

At the top of the castle there is a pretty good view of the surrounding Amboise. There was an auction going on that day, and it was rather foggy, so the video above is not spectacular.

Surrounding the castle on the backside are gardens. Since it's January the gardens were mostly dead, but it still gave a pretty view. There is the large Terrasse de Naples which is full of beautifully sculpted tree. Behind that there is the remains of the old wall protecting the castle. Between the wall and the terrace there are grape vines so that the castle can make its own wine. In the wall there is the original port cullis, the Porte des Lions, which was large enough for horse and rider to go through.

Unless however you are Charles VIII, who on his way to watch a tennis match, hit his head on the top of the gate. He fell into a coma and died nine hours later. But he deserved it. He forced Anne of Brittany to marry him while she was trying to secure the freedom of the Briton people in Brittany, after invading her country with his army, and preventing her from marrying Maximillian, of the Habsburgs, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire. This was most unfavorable to Charles because if Anne were to marry Max, that would make Max's claim on two borders of France. So he disrupted it. Anne, who was fourteen at the time, was not pleased, so she went to live in Clos-Lucé instead of with her husband. Anne is far more interesting than that. But she shall be the subject of a different post.

I found it interesting that during our guided tour, the pleasant guide said nothing about the events of 1560. During the Wars of Religion, a plot was discovered. The house of Bourbon was plotting against the powerful Guise family. The Guise family were ruling through the young François II (Son of Catherine de Medici, and husband of Mary Stuart). To protect themselves, which they did a little over zealously, they hung the plotters. These hangings lasted a month and at the end 1,200 protestants were hanged, their bodies strung up on the walls of the castle for all to see. 

It was after that when the court left Amboise, and it fell into disrepair. The picture above shows Amboise with all its glory in red. The black however is all that remains of the once glorious castle.

Like all the other castles there were emblems all over Amboise. But these were a little different. First we have the fleur de lis, the symbol of France. Next to it is the ermine, the symbol of Britany. I like this symbol a lot. The ermine, or stoat, is a small animal with a brown coat in the summer and a white one in the winter. Some believe it  morns its dead, and many regions feared the creature (they thought it was bad luck). The ermine, and Britany, both fight for survival, as ermines were known to take on creatures twice its size. Unfortunately for Britany, it could not win against the large state of France.