Amboise from above
Looking down upon a quaint French village...
I know that may sound a bit like the start of a fairy tale, but it's not. Somehow the words "quaint French village" conjure up the idea of a story to me, a little fairy tale of sorts. Maybe it does for you, too.
I must say that when I first arrived in Amboise, and started driving over the bridge which crossed the River Loire, staring at the Chateau d'Amboise towering over the town from the top of it's hill - it sure seemed like a fairy tale village. It still feels that way, almost a year later.
I always think of myself as a person who would prefer the city. Yes, I love remote spots and landscapes as much as anyone, but when I think about loving somewhere...well, I lean towards being a city and enjoying all it has to offer.
But after just a few minutes in Amboise, I was ready to throw all that nonsense out the window and live there, just relaxing at the cafes and breathing in the clean French air all day (yes, there were people smoking but come on, that's ruining my visualization!).
One afternoon we clambered up the long, steep walkway to enter the Chateau d'Amboise and see things from a different perspective. Being the photo-addicted person that I am, I ran around like a ferret on a double espresso and took loads of shots.
At some point I realized that if I got up to the edge of the retaining wall, I could see down over the town, so that's what you are seeing in the images today. These are just views that I saw while leaning over the wall at various points around the perimeter. Such a view! Isn't this a storybook village? Don't you want to go now? I sure do want to return!