My new village (when I can afford it)

We visited a village yesterday that I could live in on the weekends and travel up to Paris to my Parisian apartment for work during the week (hey! A girl can dream big!) - Vendome.  I loved this village!  Set over a series of waterways (the Loire et Cher) it is so charming with lot of friendly locals telling me they were catching perch and digging in the mud in the perfect flower beds for worms to use as bait!

 

 

Vendome is also home to an amazing gothic cathedral.  The 1034 abbey church of La Trinite has an original Romaneque bell tower and a portal with the most amazing, intricate Flamboyant-Gothic tracery.  If gargoyles were willing to talk to humans, what amazing tales they could tell us about what they've witnessed over the centuries.  They must have watched over and loved so may families and spilled tears when they've hosted funerals for folk they have witnessed growing up.

Vendome was a pilgrimmage destination for pilgrims who came over centuries to see the Holy Tear of Vendome, it was claimed that it was the tear shed by Christ on Lazarus' tomb.

 

 

 

 

 

 We had a marvellous lunch in Vendome.  I'll never forget the beauty and friendliness of this quiet village.

 

Back on the road (I love these gorgeous country roads!) we passed fields of sunflowers, corn, wheat, unknown fruit and whatever space that was unoccupied by agriculture was filled with wildflowers.  Why is France so beautiful?  Is it because the people take such pride in their country and their homes?  I am hard pressed to find an untended home.

 

Our next stop was Troo, famed for its caves and troglodyte houses.  These are houses built into the limestone hills.  The word Troo derives from the word 'trou' meaning hole, alluding to the caves dug into the hillside overlooking the Loire river by Troglodytes who enlarged natural cavities in the rock with their flint tools.  It is quite amazing to think of the people ho have lived in this area for thousands of years in the Neolithic period and to be standing where they once had their homes and raised their own families.

The gardens of the troglodyte homes are so well loved and cared for

 

We had dinner in Loches, a village most famous for Agnes Sorel, a renowned young beauty who became the King's mistress (Charles VII 16th entury).  She is so famous because she is the first mistress in history to have been publicly acknowledged as a consort and even presided over royal court for a few years.  She had four children but died shortly after from poisoning, at the age of 25 or 28.  He tomb is in Loches (she remains were DNA tested and found to be true).  Do you know Agnes means little lamb? 

 

We ate in a little trattoria (yup, Italian! Kids wanted pasta/pizza) overlooking a valley - gorgeous. On the way, I snapped a pic of someone's vegie garden - I'm just amazed by the orderliness and productivity of these French vegie gardens! They all seem to have one...

Oh and here's a peek at our new abode, a country manor.  We left the farmhouse and are staying at a manor that was built in the 1400s.  The current buildings (4 in total) were completed in 1900.  It is set amongst hectare of park and forest overlooking the Indre river and the tower of Montbazon.  I love the tower, it was built in the Xth century by Foulques Nerra, aka The Black Falcon.

 

 

The family is awake!  Off to find brekkie...have a wonderful Sunday wherever you are and whatever you're doing!