We picked up our Renault "Captur" car on the outskirts of Paris but it took us some time to actually get out of the city.
As Mr. B and I were heading to Chinon in the Loire Valley we drove past fields and fields of yellow mustard that went as far as the eye can see.
The town lies along the river Vienne with an impressive castle on top of the plateau. The castle was built in the 12th century on top of an earlier Gallo-roman fort. It was an important site for many reasons but my favorite was that Joan of Arc had a meeting with Charles VII in 1429 and it is considered the turning point in the fortunes of France and subsequent removal of the English from France. She was 17 years old.
We checked into our hotel in the late afternoon. Mr. B took a rest in our room while I went downstairs to take some photos of the flowers in the courtyard.
After a long spell of rain, the hotel had just put out their umbrellas and since it was such a beautiful afternoon I decided to sit outside, sip a glass of wine & sketch.
Hotel Diderot has a small gravel courtyard where you may park your car. Surrounding it is an old stone wall and a small, sweet, well tended garden.
There are large iron gates that are closed at night, not for safety reasons but to keep the courtyard quiet for their guests.
There is a small lane behind the hotel (Rue Diderot) where you can stroll into town passing by various houses, churches and shopfronts.
Mr. B and I headed down Rue Diderot to explore and find a place for dinner.
Some of the buildings looked like they had been added onto during different centuries.
There are wine caves built into ancient Troglodyte dwellings up on the tufa plateau.
It was fun to wonder what happened to the people who lived in these structures. Did the family that owned the house above not agree on the same architect? Or did half of the house get demolished?
Or did half of it just slowly fall over like this building has been doing for many years?
There is lot's of interesting things to see from a much earlier time.
And on the way home from dinner we walked along our lane wearing rose colored glasses. (wink)
"If Joan of Arc could turn the tide of an entire war
before her eighteenth birthday, you can get out of bed."
-- E. Jean Carroll
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