This morning we woke up and had a nice breakfast at our lodge with Emily’s favorite French woman, Danielle. We packed up our stuff and headed into the Mont St. Michel “downtown.” We stopped at a Biscuiterie and grabbed some nice shortbready and chocolaty biscuits. We then headed to a local cider maker and distiller to try some apple aperitifs including Calvados, an apple brandy – aka, apple firewater. We had 3, 5, 8, and 25 year old versions, all which scorched our throats.
After grabbing some camembert sandwiches and a bit of perry (pear cider), we hit the road for the Loire valley. You really have to love the French highway system. You can go pretty much 85+ mph and really not be speeding. You actually kind of are out of the norm if you do speed. Anyhow, lots of fun to drive on. The side roads are a challenge to keep up to the speed limit, and much to Emily’s dismay, I try. Even though gas prices are much, much higher here, you feel much better when you realize you're driving a diesel car that gets the equivalent of 60 mpg.
In Le Mans we made a quick stop for lunch and discovered a great empty cathedral (St. Julien’s). We cruised up a nice road heading through the Vouvray wine country and stopped in Amboise to stroll through the streets. By 5 o’clock we pulled into our hotel in Chenonceau and had time to take a quick dip in the pool and soak up some rays (not that my head needs any more rays). For dinner we stayed at our hotel and had a scrumptious four course menu. Emily took a swim in her ginormous French onion soup and I dared to enjoy their salmon despite my frequent salmon poisonings on past vacations. Covered a lot of ground today and are looking forward to some chateau touring tomorrow.
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