Signs of Amboise

There are many colorful and decorative street signs in Amboise.

Practice your French reading comprehension by watching this two-minute slideshow.

Amboise en mars 2004

     Above left: the Château d'Amboise on a March afternoon in 2004, in sepia tones under a threatening sky
Above right: Louis XI (1423-83) was one of the last French kings to hold court in Amboise,
before Louis XII moved the court to Blois in 1498.

Above, a composite image made up of three separate photos taken that same March afternoon
(enlarge it by touching it, tapping it, or clicking on it)

     Looking west toward the Église St-Denis in Amboise from under the bridge that spans the Loire river

Views from Amboise castle

These are some photos I took in October 2000 when we were staying in a gîte in Vouvray, just a 15-minute drive west down the Loire. At the time, we found Amboise very attractive, but on the ground we found we'd get a lot less for our money than in Saint-Aignan when it came to real estate. Amboise seemed touristy and busy; Saint-Aignan seemed sleepy. But quess what — with the growth in attendance at the Beauval zoo since the arrival of the giant pandas a few years ago, Saint-Aignan is often crowded and traffic can be bad. The zoo is less than three miles from our house.

     

     

Closing in on Amboise

When Walt and I decided in 2002 that the prospect of moving to and living in France might just turn into reality,
our first idea was to see if we could find a place to live in Amboise, famous for its history and its château.
That's how we ended up in Saint-Aignan, about 30 minutes southeast of Amboise by car.

We had spent a week in nearby Vouvray in October 2000, and another two weeks there in June 2001. Vouvray
seemed almost like a suburb of Tours. Amboise was a small city, or at least a big town, in its own right.
It did seem a little touristy, but we could live with that.

I contacted a real estate agent in Amboise. He said he'd be glad to show us some houses in the area in early December.
We found a gîte to rent in Pocé, on the right bank of the Loire across from Amboise, and flew over from California.

We rode around with the realtor for four days, and we saw three houses in Amboise that were for sale. The realtor
said he thought we'd do better in Saint-Aignan, given our budget. Nearly 20 years later, I can say he was right.
But I'm thinking I also ought to put Amboise on our list of Loire Valley towns we might like to live in,
along with Tours, Blois, and Bourges... if and when we decide to leave the rural life behind.