Leonardo da Vinci’s French Connection

flying machine

Leonardo da Vinci was a genius artist, inventor, town planner and architect. In 1516, he accepted an invitation from French King Francois I to live and work in Amboise, France. Until his death in 1519 at age 64, Da Vinci lived in Chateau du Cloux (now Clos Luce) near the royal castle, so, of course, we had to visit the house, now a museum.

Da Vinci’s inventions are displayed in miniature in the house, and full-size around the extensive grounds. Flying machines, paddle-wheel boats, revolving bridge (portable, for armies on the move), helicopter (aerial screw), machine gun, armored car (precursor to the modern tank), giant crossbow, a double-decker bridge that was supposed to help stop the spread of the plague, and his artwork hanging from trees.

We were also lucky enough to be there for a special exhibition on the progression of flying machines, from a man-powered set of wings to hot-air balloons and beyond.

lining up to get tickets to the museum

da Vinci’s helicopter design

Looks like a space ship, but it’s really da Vinci’s early tank.

double decker bridge

flying machine

flying machine

paddlewheel

paddlewheel boats

da Vinci’s machine gun design

portable bridge for use by armies

da Vinci’s double-decker bridge

steps

da Vinci’s office

da Vinci’s workspace

bust of da Vinci

Hologram in da Vinci’s house

canon

Progression of Flight exhibition

flying machine

gears

 

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Amboise’s Classical (music) Castle

Orchestra and patrons at the foot of Amboise castle

Castles fascinate me: their steep-sided walls meant to repel invaders, their dungeons, their turrets and worn stone steps. Amboise’s fortifications were originally built around the 4^thcentury AD, and since then, its appearance has been added to and changed many times as France’s rulers called it home (when they weren’t off making war or consolidating their holdings). A few were born, married or died here. For some time, it was considered a hunting lodge, and 75% of its late-14^th-century construction remains today.

After exploring the castle, we found, between castle and garden, a full orchestra preparing for a concert. We made our way across the garden, up the steps leading through rows of round bushes, found a couple of chairs and settled in for a while, relaxing to the strains of music floating through the air. It was heavenly.

You’ll notice one of my photos looks like a framed painting or photo of the castle. Two empty gold frames were cleverly placed at the top of the garden, and we saw many people standing behind the frames to have their selfies taken with the castle in the background. Only one problem: They stood so close to the frame, filling it, that you could barely see the castle. I lined up my shot of the castle through the frame, and then a group conveniently stopped on a landing within my view to admire their surroundings. That’s what I call serendipity.

castle royal dragon motif

sentry walk with view of town and Loire River

garden. See two gold frames available for selfies

View of the castle through a gold frame

Orchestra and patrons at the foot of Amboise castle

Music with a view. Relaxing in Amboise’s castle garden

the Lodge

the orchestra

castle chapel

Royal Fetes sign on the castle wall

Gothic design

the chapel

Gothic window designs

On the sentry walk

Admiring the view

Hard to imagine anyone scaling those walls

France’s Loire Valley: Medieval Amboise

View of Amboise’ castle across the river from our B*B

My husband retired early this year, so we decided to celebrate with a 7-week trip to Europe (while he was working, vacations could only last 3 weeks). We did all the planning, and now consider ourselves travel-agent worthy. For the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing the adventure with you, starting with our stay in France’s Loire River Valley, which is known for its many chateaus (castles). So, let me first introduce you to the charming medieval town of Amboise.

Getting to Amboise was fairly easy. From Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport we took a train to St. Pierre des Corps, and then a 12-minute train ride to Amboise. As we walked with our suitcases from the tiny train station in Amboise to our bed-and-breakfast, a man riding a bicycle shouted at us that we were going the wrong way. He apparently assumed we were going TO the train station. We laughed, waved and kept on going. A few blocks later, when we found our accommodations, the big, wrought-iron gate was closed and locked. We tried phoning, but no one answered. Uh oh. Next door was a café/bar where the townspeople came to place sports bets (It was odd to see a Chinese family—obviously residents—chatting with the locals in French). We waited there for a few hours, checking every so often to see if the gate had been opened. Finally, we found a woman who lived at the B&B (not the owner), and she let us in. Our room was delightfully French, with a splendid view of the castle across the river.

Our B*B next to the bar/cafe

“Piscine” means swimming pool. The Ile d’Or means Island of Gold; it’s in the middle of the river.

schoolchildren on the Ile d’Or

a tourist train passes Amboise’s castle

cave house

cave house under the castle

cave house under the castle

Amboise’ castle

city street

city street

chocolate mousse

Looking down on the town from the castle

Jerry on the bridge at sunset

View of Amboise’ castle from our B*B window

from the castle, bridge leading to our B*B

My favorite sculptures

giraffes at sunset

Heading up into the castle

Gecko pizzeria

A full moon over Amboise’s castle

Photo of the Day: And the Band Played On

Eguisheim town square on a Sunday morning

Finally: a room with a view. I photographed this scene from the 2nd-floor window of our hotel room in the ultra-charming town of Eguisheim in the Alsace region of France.

It was sheer luck that we arrived here at all. Our hotel in nearby Colmar was booked for the last three days of our stay. There was no room at the Inn, you could say. So we ventured further down the road and ended up here. A little bakery under the white awning made the most wonderful quiche, which we ate for breakfast. And surrounding the town—vineyards. White wine so clean and fresh it tasted like drops of heaven. And French cooking. Need I say more.

Perhaps the band and all those people knew we were reluctantly leaving that morning. Perhaps they came out to give us a proper send off. Perhaps……