Campervan Therapy

Amboise’s white tufa stone lends the town a fairy-tale quality with a suggestion of princesses in towers, or hopefully for contemporary princesses, abseiling from the odd turret. The castle on the south bank dominates the river.

The Camping Carpark spot is on L’Île D’Or, opposite the château which soars from the cliffs above the river. A huge reclining bronze of a naked Leonardo Da Vinci rests on the riverbank, looking over at the Château, home of his patron Francis I.

A quick stroll across the bridge and we’re on the embankment, complete with metal sculptures of a two headed dragon and a bronze silhouette of Emir Abdelkader, remembered here because of his incarceration in the Château from 1848-1852.  A Sufi, who led a struggle against French colonialism in 19^th Century Algiers, his regard for human rights regarding his Christian opponents drew widespread admiration. But the Château’s damp conditions lead to the death of 25 members of his retinue.

A walk through the cobbled centre is a treat in itself: from the wine tasting in the castle walls, to the independent cheese shops and cafés, to the troglodytic homes in the tufa cliffs.

We explore the outdoor photographic exhibition which sets the artistic mood with images of vines, caves, vibrant window boxes set against the tufa stone walls.

The Château du Clos Lucé is not to be missed. Leonardo Da Vinci lived out his last years here under the patronage of Francis I. The Château, gardens, immersive experience, and galleries are an engrossing way to spend an afternoon.

Truly a Renaissance man, we study his designs for towns, tanks, moveable bridges, helicopters, bicycles, sluices, canal locks.

His drawings of plant species, matched with the plant, continually surprise us throughout the garden. He itemised plant species long before botany was a subject in its own right.  Some of the paintings which arrived with him from Rome hang from the weeping willow trees in the garden on gossamer thin material. Swaying in the breeze the effect is otherworldly, as if sprites have taken up residence, posing for the painter in the trees.

Of course, I’m silenced by the art, by the immersive experience, which shows all his preparatory drawings and work on detail and perspective, before revealing the final painting in the long elegant white room.

Surrounded by colour and art I don’t want to leave; but Seán is engrossed with the mathematical solutions, the divine ratio, the engineering as he tests out the vast array of bridges that you can walk over in the grounds. He is in technical heaven.

A quick nip back to L’Île D’Or sees us back at the riverside terrace of Le Shaker bar for a beer for Himself and a cheeky Kir Cassis for me. We watch the sunset’s soft peach splaying across the Château’s walls opposite us before it sinks in glowing embers through the river.  It’s as if Leonardo himself is painting the river, sky, and castle in real time, just for us.

An atmospheric walk back over the bridge, to the centre’s typically French La Florentine Restaurant and a menu of goat’s cheese salad, hake in luscious butter sauce ends a day which has been a feast for the senses.