South of Paris is the valley of the Loire River. The climate is milder, and French kings and nobles built many palaces there.Amboise was the home of Charles I, who married Anne of Bretannia and unified France and Brittany. You see his palace on above. He accidentally killed himself by running into a low doorway (he was quite tall for that time) right after a tennis match.
The king brought Leonardo da Vinci from Italy to France for the last 3 years of his life. We visited his grave, which is the very fancy tiny church you see in the picture.
The king gave him a nice house near the palace and paid him a pension "For the pleasure of his conversation in the evenings." Da Vinci invented all sorts of things, like irrigation systems, war machines, and a wooden bicycle. He
also made improvements on lots of others, like the printing press, clocks, and spits to roast meat. We visited his house. In the basement, modern engineers have recreated many of his designs from his drawings. Fascinating!
We visited Chenonceau, which has lovely grounds and you can take a little boat ride if you want to row. It was built by the King for his mistress, but when he died, his wife (Marie de Medici) kicked the lady out and took it over herself. Marie used to give balls, and have her ladies-in-waiting circulate and listen (spy) to all the conversations.
That night we stayed in a cool little French place.
It had it's own restaraunt, and we had a very lovely, very French meal.
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