Michel de Gast was Captain of the famous Forty-Five bodyguards of Henry III.

Who now remembers the woman who took on Napoleon and rattled his cage?

Above the entrance to the Post Office in Quai General de Gaulle Amboise, is a low relief carving depicting of François I and Leonardo da Vinci. Thanks to a long lens, and because the artist signed it, we know who sculpted the charming scene but unfortunately not when.

That there exists the remains of a chapel underneath the chapel which now goes by the name of St. Hubert Is no mystery. Saint Blaise was a Christian Martyr in Turkey, a very popular Saint with a cult following all over Europe.

The Leonardo da Vinci Painter and Architect Galleries at Château du Clos Lucé, the latest initiative in the Saint Bris mission to keep the memory of the Master alive and well are an absolute triumph. Very impressive. Awesome in fact. They by far exceed expectations.

Did the Château really have lions? Hard to take in, but, yes. You do wonder how they got here and how they were they fed along the way. The danger to life and limb alone beggars belief.

May 2nd marks the anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci in Amboise.

In 1888, in Amboise, James McNeill Whistler had never been so happy. He was on his honeymoon, with his beloved Trixie in his beloved France. He was fifty, Beatrix was thirty. It was his first marriage, her second. They had known each other for many years.