The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
May 9 - Around the Loire Valley
The Chateau de Saumur sits impressively on the top of the hill overlooking the Loire River. Like many of the historic buildings in France, it is undergoing renovation (you can see some of the scaffolding on the left side.) It is even more awesome looking at the other side of the castle from the valley, but today was a market day and the place was too jammed to be able to stop. The ground along the Loire is made of very soft limestone and natural caves are everywhere.
Some of these caves have been converted into dwellings, from the simple to the elaborate.
Across the road from where we stopped for our picnic was an 11th century church ... with a 20th century cemetary next to it. This is the French way of death. The graves are well-maintained with flowers (artificial but colorful) and small granite placques of sympathy from family and friends. In the US, I suspect these loose pieces would quickly disappear but here it is apparently not a problem. Behind the cemetary was the remains of a tower. We could not tell what it had originally been part of, but scenes like this are common along the river.
The Abbaye de Fontrevaud was quite an operation in its day. I thought it was interesting that only one room in the entire abby was heated. Spiritual satisfactions notwithstanding, it must have been a rugged existance.
The property is being completely renovated, to the point that it feels more like new construction than an old building. It is best known as the burial site of England's King Richard the Lion-Hearted, his father, Henry II, Elizabeth of Acquitaine ... and a fourth player to be named later.
© 2004 Restaurant Doctor
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