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Amboise

Amboise was first part of the possessions of the Counts of Anjou. It then changed "hands" to be part of the House of Amboise and with these changes the flavour of the town changed fromone of fortress, to one of Royal Residence.

One of the true "royal" residences, the chateau was built during the 15th and the 16th centuries on the orders of Charles VIII, Louis XII and François 1.

The Royal Castle was important as in the Middle Ages it held a strategic position looking over one of the few bridges that crossed the Loire River.

The Chapel of St. Hubert is within the walls of the castle and it is the last resting-place of Leonardo da Vinci. Originally Leonardo was buried in the king-castle, in the cloister of the church Saint Florentin. The church was destroyed and also part of the Kinds Castle, so his remains were moved to the Chapel of St. Hubert.

We lucked and and were able to stay at the Chateau de Pray.

La Châtre

Traveling with no pre-booked reservations at hotesl offers your the most freedom and the potential for dissapointment. Sometimes you simply can't get a room where you want. In the case of visiting La Châtre, we could not find anything, but that turned out to be a good thing as we stayed in the town of Saint-Chartier at the Chateau Saint Chartier and ended up having quite the experience.

This area is famous because of George Sand - the pen name of Aurore Dupin. She was born the great granddaughter of the Marérchal de Saxe, a brillant military commander under Louis XV. She often danced in the village at La Châtre and socialized there. They have George Sand festivals each year here.