CHINON!

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So it’s been 3 sleeps since we left Paris, first in the small but busy tourist town of Amboise. Sharon had heard the Mick Jagger had a place near there and wanted to call in and say hello. But we decided to walk to the castle instead. A quaint little 16th century home was our B&B there, run by a couple of artists. The guy did everything using wine labels and corks as his media, he’s a pretty prolific artist as well which necessitates drinking copious amounts of wine. The walls are covered with his displays and some are really quite good

Then we came across to the Chinon area. It’s not as busy now as it was in the middle ages, so the tourists (and we don’t count ourselves among them, of course) aren’t as thick on the ground. That’s nice because Chinon and Fountevraud Abbey have been on our list for many years. I never thought that we’d actually make it here.

Chinon Castle.

Chinon Castle was started by Henry Count of Anjou, Henry Plantagenet or Henry 2nd King of England. He married Eleanor of Aquitaine just after she divorced herself from the French King. They had a bunch of kids, like they did in those days or Mormons do today. Two of whom became Kings themselves, Richard the Lion Heart and John Lackland, the signer of the Magna Charta and the guy who lost the crown jewels in a mudflat (but that‘s another story…). Quite a fascinating time in English and French history.

Fontevraud Abbey.

Richard, despite the Ivanhoe and Robin Hood stories, was never a good king to the English, in fact he only spent 6 months of his entire life there. It was just a place to tax the life out of to raise money for his crusades and castles in France.

Eleanor and Henry

When he died, John his brother lost most of the French possessions and had to go and live in England (poor beggar) so he could tax the life out of it for his castles! He did more than that though. When running away from the English Barons, who tired of paying his taxes wanted him to sign the Magna Charta, thus taking away a lot of his autonomous power. He took a train of wagons filled with the crown jewels from the English Treasury, in a short cut across the Wash, a tidal basin on the East coast. Against local advice he thought he could race the tide.
All that was ever found, years later was one gold plate.

Richard and his second wife Isabella.

Henry was Buried at Fontevraud Abbey, followed ten years later by Richard who is at Henry’s feet. Eleanor who lived into her 90’s, a pretty long life for someone of that period, is alongside Henry. She spent her last years at the Abbey. Sharon considers Eleanor to be the first real feminist. John, as I said, lost it all to the French.

The Abbey cloisters.

Here endeth today’s history lesson according to Ken.
There will be a test!

Eleanor the first Feminist!