Dinner in Azay-le-Rideau

After visiting the chateau in Azay-le-Rideau, we stopped by a sidewalk cafe for shelter from the rain and to drink some warm beverages. Then on to dinner at L'Aigle d'Or, the Golden Eagle, a small, bright restaurant located in a converted house. We had a delicious spring-themed meal, starting with a wonderful velouté de petits pois, fresh pea soup, with smoked chicken.

After our huge feast on Sunday, we all chose fish for our mains, which are not documented in picture or my memory. I do remember I had sesame crusted fish--quite good. Bill also has vague, but positive memories of his fish with tasty sauce and julienned vegetables. I was the only one who couldn't resist the cheese cart, although everyone was happy to share my choices, including some excellent Gruyere and reblochon. For dessert Kevin had a brownie with ice cream, Bill had a citrus madeleine with strawberry sauce and strawberry compote. Andrea and I both had strawberry sorbet encased in an almond meringue. This was a perfect dessert. The sorbet captured the essence of strawberry and the meringue was tender, not crumbly or dusty. Bill and I had a glass of a local wine with dinner, which was rather sweet, but went surprisingly well with the soup and fish.

Château d'Azay-le-Rideau

Our second destination on Monday was Azay-le-Rideau. It was the first château we actually went inside, as the gardens of Villandry completely overshadow its château. It was also the first château we had trouble finding. We drove into Azay-le-Rideau following the usually very helpful brown tourisme signs. Driving down the main street we saw a sign pointing ahead saying "100m." The next sign we saw pointed behind us and said "200m." How do you miss a château? So, we turned around in a round-about and drove back, turning onto the only street between the signs. It led to a parking lot, so we figured we were close to something and parked. We gathered our stuff and walked back to the main street. A pedestrian path next to the parking lot led to the visitor center for the château, so we had figured right.

Construction on the château of Azay-le-Rideau began sometime before 1515. Gilles Berthelot acquired the lordship of Azay through his wife and started constructing a residence according to his own tastes, but it was his wife, Philippe Lesbahy, who directed most of the work. Berthelot would not see the end result of their work, however. Accused of colluding with his friend Semblançay, the Financial Secretary, in embezzlement he was forced to flee the country in 1528. The property was confiscated by King François I and given as a reward to one of his high-ranking soldiers. The property changed hands several times over the following centuries, eventually being acquired by the State in 1905.

The château is constructed on an island in the Indre River, making it appear to rise out of the water. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of the interior. We weren't allowed to take any flash photography and it was overcast outside, so there wasn't enough light. Otherwise you could see the grand central staircase designed by Mme Lesbahy which is its greatest innovation.



We did, however, capture a duel in progress. The umbrellamen certainly chose a picturesque location to settle their differences.

Villandry

Andrea, here. Sharon & Bill asked us to help describe our adventures in France. We had such a nice time. I'm very glad we chose the Loire valley as our destination. In all, we visited four chateaux in two days.

The castle and gardens at Villandry were our first stop. Having bought our tickets at the tourist office, (per their suggestion) we chose to skip the chateau and focus on the gardens. Words don't really do the gardens justice, (I don't think the pictures do either), however I will say that I felt June was the perfect time of year to see them. The roses were in bloom and everything was quite lovely. We thoroughly enjoyed the views, especially from the New Belvedere, in spite of a little rain shower that passed through.

There are fours types of gardens at Villandry: the Ornamental gardens, the Water garden, the Herb garden and the Kitchen gardens. Kevin's favorite were the "Gardens of Love", pictured here on the right. The heart-shaped bush patterns all represent different degrees of love. You'll have to ask him for details about the garden of "Fickle Love".

By far, these were the most extravagant gardens I've seen. I'm glad Villandry made the cut. It was well worth the trip.

Cuisine de France

On the day of our arrival, we had reservations for dinner at the hotel at 7:45. The restaurant offered a la carte, degustation menu (with wine pairings), or a gourmand menu. We chose the gourmand menu which consisted of five courses: appetizer, fish, main, cheese, and dessert. The wine menu was two inches think. We didn't even open it. We just asked our waiter to bring something that would work with fish and a variety of mains. He brought a lovely, medium Chinon red--smooth and supple with playful but not overwhelming fruit. We had to ask for a few clarifications on the French menu, but were able to order without any huge surprises.

Our meal started with a trio of tastes: a shot of gazpacho, a bite of cheese and a mini bacon tarte. The gazpacho was particularly tasty. We thought the trio was the amuse bouche, but our bouches were to be further amused by rillon (similar to bacon) and caramelized shallots. Our appetizers were generous with an entire slice of stuffed fois gras for Bill and a healthy portion of smoked salmon with salmon mousse for Andrea. I had crab and langoustine (mini lobster) and Kevin had white asparagus and ham-on-a-stick (it sounds more elegant in French).

For our fish course Bill and Kevin had pike, I had sea bass with olives and pine nuts and Andrea had turbot. I didn't enjoy the Mediterranean preparation of my fish as much as some Asian versions I've had. Bill enjoyed his first pike, especially the crispy skin, although his favorite part may have been the fresh spring peas.

Our hosts did not skimp on our main portions either. Andrea and I had veal, Kevin lamb, and Bill pork. The veal was Andrea's and my favorite course. The morel sauce was delish. I think Kevin's lamb was also his favorite. Bill preferred his pike over the pork; he found the tenderloin a bit overcooked and the sauce a little salty.

Then came the cheese! We are huge fans of the cheese cart. (I was tempted to roll one out of the restaurant on Tuesday night.) We tried a number of cheeses and found a few new favorites. In particular, Maroilles, a buttery, rich cow cheese. The local chevre was also nice. I was intrigued by a red, cone-shaped cheese. "Ah, Madame! Very Strong!" the waiter said when I pointed to it. I was not deterred. He said he would have to throw away the knife after cutting it and expressed sorrow to my dining companions. I took his advice and tried the scary cheese last. It didn't stink too much, but it was boldly flavored. For a second I thought it was bubbling on my tongue. It tasted like a strong blue to me. The waiter disagreed with my assessment. "Oh no, blue cheese is good. That is not even cheese!" Turns out the cone cheese, Boulette d'Avesnes, is made from the remnants of Maroilles, which are mixed with spices and typically rolled in paprika. Recent research has revealed that the cheese is known as suppositoire du diable. Yes, that's the devil's suppository. Nice.

As with any meal event, we were exhausted by the time dessert arrived. Andrea and I decided to trade our chocolate bombe and orange souffle (but not until I had tasted the bombe, coffee ice cream and vanilla custard--really good). The souffle was warm and airy and huge. I think it was my first souffle and I liked it. Bill also had the bombe with accompaniment. Kevin had strawberry something (details possibly lost to history).

After such a hearty meal, we were dismayed when the waiter brought four shots of passion fruit mousse with orange cookies. We surely gave it a go, and it was lovely, and then our dinner was truly complete.

Our waiter was a lot of fun. We think he was one of the owners of the lovely hotel. We were the last party to leave the dining room that evening. The gourmand menu was €49 per person. So 5+ courses for four, 200 quid with a €26 bottle of wine (not bad!). When you think that burgers and pints for four at a Dub pub can be €80, our meal was wonderfully affordable. It was a great start to our French adventure.

Lundi

Our first morning in France (Monday), we took a taxi into Tours to pick up our car. After some searching and an enquiry at the Office de Tourisme, we discovered that Europcar is nowhere near their purported location. (They purport to be near the Office de Tourisme, and we were not the first to so enquire.) Following the instructions from the helpful lady de tourisme, we took a bus to a small train station and found the car office, just as it was closing for lunch. In case you were wondering, Andrea can say, "If we hadn't been led astray by your faulty directions, we would have been here before noon" in French. It had little effect on the madmoiselle with only one hour for lunch.

C'est la vie! Let's eat lunch! Conveniently, there was a cafe next to the Europcar. By the time we finished lunching on a variety of lunch items, including lots of frites, the office was open and we procured our Renault Clio. With Bill at the wheel and Andrea navigating, we headed West for Villandry.

Down Kerbey Lane

With Kevin and Andrea in town, we've rhapsodized about Austin eateries more than usual. Tonight, Bill made a Dublin version of Kerbey Lane Eggs Francisco. Mighty good grub. No hibiscus tea, however.

The Journey

Our journey to France started early Sunday morning. Our fears about sleeping through alarms were for naught, as the taxi kindly started calling at 4:15AM. He was a wee bit early. Bill arranged for him to return at 5:15. The Dublin airport is madness at 6AM on Sunday morning, but most of the hubbub was for flights other than ours, and we easily checked in and passed security for our 7:05 departure. We flew to Ryanair's Parisian outpost, Beauvais, and boarded a bus for the hour ride to Paris. After spotting the Tour Eiffel popping above the skyline, and driving along some wide, leafy streets, we were dropped off at the Metro, which we took to the train station, and waited for our TGV to Tours. We ate tasty sandwiches and some little fried mini-churro type things, and drank Orangina.

After speeding through the French countryside, we disembarked and boarded a little, creaky train into the center of Tours, the coeur de ville. We got a taxi to our hotel, the lovely Chateau de Beaulieu. We were shown to our chambres, and given keys attached to tassels that belonged on the ceremonial dressage harness of the mightiest steed in history. Large tassels, is what I'm saying. We had been traveling almost 12 hours by this time, so I opted for a three-hour nap. After I awoke Bill and I wandered the grounds for a bit. We had reservations for dinner for 7:45 at the hotel. Dinner, of course, is a story unto itself.