Our journey today took us first to Chédigny, the only village in France which has been certified with the label “Jardin Remarquable”. 

A very pretty village which has 1000 rose trees, 1500 bulbs plants, about a hundred bushes and thousands of perennial plants, which we explored while walking in the narrow streets of the village. Obviously, the best time to visit would be in spring, but we still got some colour. The transformation of the village started in 1998….the gardeners of Chédigny gradually improved their ranking in the “best flowered cities and villages contest” and were rewarded in 2019 with the most prestigious title: the golden flower!

A very grumpy and seemingly exhausted lad waiting for his sister’s baptism (we think). ‘Dressed to the nines’ as well 🙂

Next to Loches, classed as one of the most beautiful sites in France (“Plus Beaux Détours de France”) and a “Town of Art and History”. This citadel town, whose story goes back a thousand years, has an amazing medieval complex within its walls. We had the best coffee and hot chocolate before strolling around its paved streets, looking at Tuffeau stone façades and intertwined roofs. 

The town of Loches is connected to some of the great celebrities of French history: Agnès Sorel, “Lady of Beauty” and the first officially recognised mistress of a French king, Fulk III, AKA “the falcon”, fearsome warrior and indefatigable builder who commissioned the Donjon (castle’s keep). He was notorious for his cruelty and bloodthirstiness. He spent a considerable part of his life fighting his enemies, particularly Odo II, Count of Blois, his nemesis.

On the way to Montresor, we came across by surprise the impressive Chartreuse du Liget, built in 1180 by Henry II Plantagenet as penance for the murder of Thomas Becket. Droney did the hard work for us and took a pic of the estate including the ruins of the cloister and chapel. 

Montresor was our last stop. Terry and John visited the Chateaux of Montresor, while I launched droney again.  The château has seen 1000 years of history and is home to a big art collection. One of the chateau’s owners was Count Xavier Branicki, a famous Polish refugee exiled in France. Below, the river is like a mirror reflecting the château and the village houses.

The Halle des Cardeux has a free exhibition of ‘Gemmail’. Initiated in 1935 by Jean Crotti, and has been a technique adopted by Cocteau, Picasso, Gaugin, Modigliani and Braque to name a few.  My fave on show was by Shizuka Murayama, “Les Pavots (poppies)”:

Artists work on large sheets of glass placed on trestles and illuminate them from underneath, layering fragments of glass of varying degrees of thickness and different colors, depending on the tones and effect desired. These are temporarily stuck together using transparent glue, then checked and signed by the artist, and placed into a drying kiln where the glue is removed. Next, the fragments of glass are permanently attached to prepare for the final firing. The temperature of the final firing is increased slowly and carefully in order to avoid any damage to the piece, and the final cooling is also carefully controlled.

A ‘Gemmail’ is therefore essentially a translucent painting, transforming and modulating colour by capturing light through the many layers and textures of the glass.

On our way back to the car we saw an interesting marble face set into the wall of a building and a couple tending to their garden at day’s end (with a great view back to the old part of town).

Its been a wonderful and full day…. now off to dinner @ La Reserve, back at Amboise. I had pork loin with honey and mustard sauce. Yum!