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France 2010
Day 13 - 14th October - Château d'Amboise (Part 4)
All the Kings of France, from Charles VII to Francis I, stayed at Amboise.
After the Gothic furniture was the Renaissance furniture, which introduced perspective.
Chair and perspective
Drawers and perspective
Henri III chamber
Fireplace in Franciscan Antechamber
Louis-Philippe Bedchamber
Louis Philippe's sister Madame Adélaide: the Duke of Orleans and his wife
Looking out the side
Bridge and town
Ramparts and the gardens
Château windows
Coat of Arms at a door
Porcupine's Gate (I think) and shrubs
Château
Château and Gardens
Château and St Hubert Chapel
Cypress, Grape vines, porcupine bushes
Lion's Gate
There was an area dedicated to the Middle East.
Information about the Oriental Garden
Oriental Garden and Memorial
Dedicated to 25 henchmen of Emir Abdelkader, who died here from 1848 to 1852
Town of Amboise and Heurtault Tower
Cedar of Lebanon
Bust of Leonardo da Vinci
Heurtault Tower
Gothic vs Renaissance Windows
St Hubert Chapel
A hot air balloon rises above the Château
"Leonardo da Vinci - Renaissance Man"
In the base of an arch supporting the vault: caught in fornication
Pussy in a hollow
One American: "Have you seen one skinny cat here?"
I love creams. Served with crème fraîche
Weapons in weapon shop
Incontinence awareness poster
UNESCO signpole
The Château from below
This was the closest I could get to the official shots
I forgot why I was asked to take this picture. I think it was because this house was reversed: its rear was where other houses' fronts were, and vice versa
I think this was the other side of the house:
Now I had to drive all the way back to Paris, which was quite far.
For dinner we stopped at a Buffalo Grill. We had seen a few but this was the first time we got to try it.
Buffalo Grill is a French chain specialising in American-style grilled meat. And apparently "Buffalo Grill" is a play on "Buffalo Bill"
"Les desserts. Hits. So American !
Classics. So incontournables !" (incontournable = unavoidable)
Notice the French style of puncuation
There was also a item: "Fruités. So fruity !" Duh.
"French Brioche. Brioche à la française"
Gotta love the translation (there's a law that all slogans in foreign languages must be translated into French - and it's more honoured in the observance than in the breach)
Their idea of Buffalo Wings
The Barbecue sauce was a bit pedestrian. Oh well, American food outside the US
French Duo with Rocquefort
Bison pavé with Béarnaise sauce (Bison chunk)
You could ask for many types of sauce, but the server recommended Béarnaise
Bison tastes like a more neutral sort of beef.
I ordered my meat à point (medium), but probably due to the strange shape of the meat it wasn't very thoroughly-cooked (this section was like rare). I sent it back, of course.
The menu
Notice the lack of a vegetarian - let alone vegan - option. Even the salads all have meat in them
Notice also that they have "Viande Bovine Française" (French Beef) vs "Viande de race français" (French-breed beef)
If you ever wanted to know the French translations for "onion rings", "Fish", "Bun's" (sic), "Ribs", "All Fruits", "Bison by Buffalo", "New", "Frenchy Burger", "French Beef", "The" and "French Brioche", look here
The French Brioche
This was excellent. And also quite sweet, as the Brioche was already sweet before the caramel sauce and cookies and cream ice cream
Since I still had a way to go and was running low on gas, I tried to refuel in Orléans. The GPS led us to a street where the road was being drilled up, so it was bumpy. Eventually I found Auchan, a supermarket.
Red lights in the night
Eventually I got back to Paris. How did I know I was back in Paris? When I was driving on the Périphérique (ring road) in the evening, I was the target of aggressive driving as people kept coming up close behind me. The best was this guy who came up very close behind me, and FLASHED HIS HIGH BEAM. I was blinded and would've crashed if I hadn't had a certain modicum of experience. Perhaps it was that asshole's wish to make me crash into him, so that he could claim insurance money.
What a Formule 1 room looks like
In all, in 6 days I had driven more than 1,688km:
We had apéritifs most of the time (and twice cider) but never a digestif. Partly because I had to drive.
Having a car is fun because when you finish a drink you can just toss the bottle into the back seat.