We packed up the car this morning, again in temperatures heading well over thirty degrees. It was sad to leave such a nice location with our own little patio garden and access to the swimming pool but equally the steep wooden steps to the mezzanine sleeping area and the high temperatures at night were a challenge over the past few days!
We drove through the countryside and made a day of our journey by stopping in the little town of d’Azay le Rideau. This was a lovely little town - very sleepy but with some beautiful shops and craft places. We stopped for a cake and coffee first before exploring and then finally heading into the Château. This time we did go inside and I think this had become my favourite one to date! It is small and has a moat filled by the river Indre. It has a nice feel about the place and another excellent kitchen with plenty of polished copper. Best of all was a spectacular wooden spiral staircase - a photographers dream. We spent quite some time there in the shade of the trees after exploring the house itself. The temperature continued to rise when we headed back to the car for the second half of our drive to Saumur - our next stop.
There were no wrong turns as I had practiced the route on Google maps and as promised by our current hosts there was not problem parking right outside the apartment and the key safe worked perfectly. We are literally steps away from the Loire and it is quiet and very well equipped. The toilet is also on the same level so I do not need to worry that one of us is going to break a leg or worse in the middle of the night!
I discovered that there was a Carrefour about a fifteen minute walk from the apartment and so I managed with a ‘purposeful walk’ to make it there to stock up on breakfast supplies and back with time for a shower before we headed out to a bistro I had booked online earlier right in the heart of the town. It was a nice meal and we managed to sit outside with a carafe of the local red wine, trying to catch a bit of breeze.
