Neuburg an der Donau

On Sunday after spending the morning at work, Malcolm, his mum and I drove to Neuburg which is pretty little town on the banks of the Danube. We drove through pretty countryside and had a picnic lunch at a park on the river's edge before a stroll around the Schloss and town.  

Nantes and La Rochelle

After the Loire Valley it was off to Nantes which is on the banks of the Loire.  We went to stay with Sophie and Craig at Sophie's parents' home at Nort-sur-Erdre which is about 30km north of Nantes.  It was great to catch up with them and have them show us Nantes.  That evening we went into Nantes for dinner and a walk around and the next day went in for a good tour of the city.  It was easy to see why they like to spend their time back here, it is a beautiful place with a lovely and vibrant centre.  Before WWII Nantes used to be in Brittany so we could not wait to taste the much talked about (back in Munich) crepes.  

We walked around the grounds of the château, the cathedral and the ornate shopping arcade, Passage Pommeraye.  After lunch we headed to Les Machines de I'ile de Nantes.   Out the front was an amazing carousel based on many creatures from Jules Verne novels (Verne was from Nantes).  Inside the gallery you can view mechanical sea creatures which are to be used for a triple decker, 25 metre high, 80 person (adults and children) Jules Verne inspired carousel.  The pieces created so far were amazing and we will be back to ride the carousel when it is complete.  There was also a 12m high mechanical elephant which plods around the plaza.  

The next day we went to the west coast for a trip to the beach!  We got to walk around Piriac-sur-Mer and went for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean, our first ocean swim since leaving Perth.  We then drove back through salt farms and stopped in at Guerande on the way back.

The next day we headed to La Rochelle to visit Malcolm's friend, Marc who he had not seen for 15 years.  I went for a wander through the very beautiful and busy town whilst Malcolm caught up with his good friend, discussing boats, work, life, boats etc...  We met Marc's lovely wife Dominique who made us very welcome.  We had dinner with them and stayed the night before heading off the next day back towards Colmar.

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The Loire Valley

 We headed to the Loire Valley for Château overload.  We stayed overnight to be first through the gates at one of the largest tourist Châteaus and it was definitely worth it.  The first one we saw and visited was Château de Chenonceau which was built over the River Cher and had very impressive gardens as well as the buildings themselves.  As we were first we raced inside and went to the upper levels so that we could see these exquisite rooms empty.  It was well worth it as most people followed the guided route (which we went back and did after) so we were left alone to see were Catherine de' Medici, Madame Dupin and others had lived.  

After this we drove to the medieval town of Loches where we had lunch in the park looking towards the château and walked around the town.  

Then off to visit the next place, Château d'Azay-le-Rideau.  Thankfully with daylight saving we could drive for a while longer passing many beautiful châteaus until we got to Saumur with its own fairytale château.

The next morning we decided to stay off the main roads and visit a Château with a difference.  Château de Breze has a subterranean fort and caves and tunnels with an extremely deep moat around it.  There are still people living in part of the château and it still has a vineyard and winery with the wine being stored in the caves and tunnels built underground.  Walking around the buildings and gardens it felt like the people who owned it needed more cash and just decided to open a few rooms as it felt more recently used than other châteaus we had visited.

Château d'Azay-le-Rideau.

Saumur

Château de Breze

Château de Breze

Château de Breze

We then drove to Nantes via Montreuil-Bellay where there was first established a château in 1025.

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Ronchamp, Dijon, Vezelay and Besancon

Ronchamp

We left Colmar Thursday morning to make our way through France to head towards our friends in Nantes.  Even though Boris, our GPS, likes to take highways we confused him by taking any number of sideroads that we could.  The first night we were aiming for Dijon and on the way stopped at the town of Belfort and to Ronchamp to see the famous Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut by Le Corbusier. 

We got to Dijon mid afternoon and after checking into our hotel went on a self guided walking tour.  Dijon is a wonderful city to wander around.  There are lots of beautiful medieval and renaissance buildings and in the morning we found a vibrant marketplace.  Malcolm climbed the tour to have a look over the city whilst I found mustard shops to try different wine and herb flavoured mustards.

We were then on the road and headed for Vezelay, a small hilltop village with a medieval basilica.  The town is surrounded by vineyards and sunflower fields.  The basilica has a crypt with what is believed to be one of Mary Magdalene's bones.  We stopped in the gardens of the basilica for a picnic lunch of the usual baguette and cheese. 

After this we headed west to the Loire Valley.  A week later on our return to Colmar we stopped in Besancon for the night.  The old part of town is encased by the curve of the River Doubs and was pretty to wander around.  We saw a statue that was the spitting image of Malcolm's brother Ross.  We visited the Museum of Time which was full of historical time pieces and were fortunate to see the extraordinary Astronomical Clock.  A very pretty town and well worth the visit.

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