The Loire Valley, Part II and International Stalking

Now, I know what you're thinking, “There she goes stalking European ex-boyfriends again,” but I haven't done that for at least 15 years and definitely not since I've been married.  I also had no idea we'd run into him again after Dürnstein, and it was my French friend's idea to go to the Fontevraud Abbey in the first place.  So, how could I know we'd walk into the nave and there he'd be, lying next to his dead mother?  Actually, that's an exaggeration.  He was lying next to his sister-in-law, not his mother. (I don't know what happened to his wife.)  His father's tomb was positioned near his head and his mother's feet rested above his sister-in-law....which I assume is an analogy for their relationship in life.  So, by now you've probably figured out that the man I inadvertently stalked in Europe was not an ex-boyfriend, but King Richard I (aka King Richard the Lion Heart). 

After we left him in Dürnstein, Austria (http://www.wirthsummer2012.blogspot.com/2012/07/durnstein-enns-and-krems-austria.html), we didn't see hide nor hair of him until the Loire Valley and I certainly didn't expect to see him in France....forgetting of course that the English occupied much of northern France off and on for hundreds of years, and they clearly still occupied it when Richard, his parents and sister-in-law died. As awkward as it was to run into him again, I admit I felt badly for him, entombed so close to his mother.  Now, I've got nothing against moms, but you'll remember that this particular woman chased him down on his way to a Crusade, then forced him to marry a woman he presumably didn't love. And when Richard died his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, moved his body to Fontevraud where she spent her remaining years. (Before you ask, Blondell was nowhere in sight and one assumes he failed to make the burial guest list.) 

Some say the tombs were emptied during the French Revolution, but we didn't open them to check. If they were empty and the remains were in fact scattered, then that was the only hope Richard had of escaping his mother.

(Above and Below: Richard the Lion Heart [lower right])

When you tour Fontevraud Abbey, the church is the first building you enter but it is neither the largest, nor the most impressive structure. The abbey is a rambling mass of hallways and courtyards and unexpectedly wide-open indoor spaces. A sign honors members of the French Resistance who were killed by the SS in a courtyard near Abbey buildings which were used as prisons. Since we had already seen a concentration camp, my children were somewhat numb to the plight of small groups of people. In fact, any number fewer than 100,000 people lost failed to get their attention at all. So, I should have known better than to translate the sign that announced 10 people were killed in this small courtyard. “Only 10 died?” my son asked, “They put up a sign for only 10 people?” By then, I was pretty used to whisper-yelling, “Shut up!” through clenched teeth.

In Europe, we were surprised to find thousand-year-old structures re-purposed for art exhibits, cafes, or concert venues.  The night we visited Carcassonne, we watched LMFAO fans congregate for an impending concert before a rain storm flushed us—and presumably them—out of town.  In Fontainveau, a modern raised walkway twisted through the entire courtyard of the area named La Madeleine, rising above and below itself easily doubling the length one expected to walk, and making the walker wish she had known the real distance before starting.  Off of this main courtyard, and up about 30 stairs, we found one enormous room filled with boat-like structures which appeared black in the red fiber-optic-lit space (picture below).  My point in mentioning this is that you never know what you're going to find when you walk into a French abbey--an old king, an art exhibit, an SS Prison, or all of the above.

 

Back to the mansions:  The rich and powerful flocked to the Loire Valley during the Hundred Years War since it was politically stable, had rich hunting grounds, and building materials could be transported down the Loire River easily.  In fact, builders barely needed to remove those materials from the boat since many of the chateaux are actually on the river.  Now, I have never looked at a lake or stream and thought of building a house there, and I have to admit I was embarrassed by the number of 600-year-old people who's imaginations clearly exceed my own.  In fact, on several occasions, while visiting the Chateau de Chenonceau, I thought of Catherine de' Medici's (of the Florence de' Medicis) idea to put a kitchen and gallery inside the footing of her personal Ponte Vecchio (pictured below) and thought, "Touché".  If I ever have several million dollars of disposable income, a Senator or two in my pocket, and a good civil engineer on speed dial, I'm building a house on the Mississippi River... or a creek somewhere.  Anyway, it will definitely happen!

(Above:) Inside the bridge gallery.

 

(Above and Below):  The Chateau de Chenonceau gardens

As nice as the Chateau de Chenonceau gardens are, the most famous gardens are found at the Chateau de Villandry.  We didn't see the inside of the Chateau de Villandry because by then we were chateau'd-out...or maybe we ran out of money for the week (I can't remember)....but the gardens were spectacular (pictured below).

  

© 2012 Nicole Wirth
Author of:  Letters to Salthill