We could not let World Cat Day, 8 August 2022, pass by without a post for Maisie.

A visit to an art exhibition at Château Fontenay near Bléré ended with a wine tasting. Zut Alors! One we agreed on!

The end of an era. It’s hard to pass 4 rue Verdun without a pang. M. Fougeron, the last cobbler in Amboise, after fifty years he has retired and gone fishing. Born in Amboise, he knows the Loire well.

Marianne of Amboise was modelled in 1985 by film actress Catherine Deneuve, the muse of many film directors. Many town halls display a sexualized bare breasted Marianne. Ms Deneuve is far more modest.

On display in Amboise Museum is a wonderful model of the tram which once trundled at 23kmh along what is now Quai General de Gaulle and Quai Charles Guinot.

Désiré Marteau joined his neighbour, René Mulo, a winegrower, one of the first resistance fighters in Indre-et-Loire. They became part of the Buckmaster network.

Francis needed Henry on his side against his hated enemy Charles V but in 1532 it was Henry who needed Francis on his side.

The Vatican Museums in Rome have only one work by Leonardo da Vinci, Saint Jerôme in the Wilderness, aka Saint Jerôme in the Desert. All the more astonishing then that the Vatican has loaned it to Château Clos Lucé* in Amboise.