Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[drron29]

Here's a question for all the mind readers out there.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Yes

[jollyjones]

5 hours ago, drron29 said:

Here's a question for all the mind readers out there.

 

Hmmm ... depends if it's your blue or your pink jacket ...

 

[lincslady]

6 hours ago, drron29 said:

Here's a question for all the mind readers out there.

How dare you suggest such a thing!

[Tothesunset]

6 hours ago, drron29 said:

Here's a question for all the mind readers out there.

Yes. But only once I'd doubled the dose. 

[DavyWavey70]

Belated seasons greetings Coolers. Sorry I've not been around but I got locked out of my account after  changing my email. All sorted now and a big thank you to @Host Jazzbeau for helping sort it out. Hope you are all well and have had a wonderful Christmas. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 minutes ago, DavyWavey70 said:

Belated seasons greetings Coolers. Sorry I've not been around but I got locked out of my account after  changing my email. All sorted now and a big thank you to @Host Jazzbeau for helping sort it out. Hope you are all well and have had a wonderful Christmas. 

Welcome back Dav(e)y!  We missed you, and I'm glad you got it sorted out.

[jpalbny]

Welcome back DW! 

 

Time flies. Just a week ago we were sitting in the Hertz office at CDG, having arrived 30 minutes early. It was a short flight to begin with, less than 7h flying time, so we didn't sleep much.

 

Our car was ready a few minutes after 7AM so we hit the road!

 

Traffic was painful on la Rue Périphérique but eventually we broke free and headed southwest towards the Loire Valley. It took us about 3 hours to reach our destination. 

 

Our first stop was Château de Chambord. It was beautiful despite the cloudy weather. 

 

 

 

Lots of festive decorations inside too. Some traditional, and others less so.

 

 

On the roof we could see this beautiful tower, but couldn't climb up into it. Oh well! Looks pretty. 

 

 

We did get a look at the moss-covered roofs and decorations though. The upkeep must be a challenge around here.

 

 

We had a wander around the grounds but other than some different views of the Château, not much to see.

 

 

So we came in from the cold misty weather, and had crêpes for lunch!

 

 

Now another half-hour to the next stop at Château de Cheverny. More festive decor.

 

 

Smaller on the inside compared to Chambord, but in addition to Christmas decorations, they were doing some interesting stuff with Legos. This painting of Jeanne d'Aragon was replicated in Legos!

 

 

Pretty grounds. More extensively decorated than Chambord was.

 

 

 

They had a hedge labyrinth which of course we had to walk through. Luckily we found our way out!

 

 

On to our hotel in Amboise, where we checked in a little after 4PM. We had a shower, made dinner reservations, wandered the town a little, scoped out some souvenir shops, and then got ready for dinner (with a glass of wine of course).

 

Veal sweetbreads and country pâté for appetizers, steak frites for our mains, and a delicious spin on pain perdu for dessert.

 

 

With that we walked back to the hotel, enjoying the decorations along the way. 

 

 

Early to bed after all that time driving, and not much sleep the night before. Tomorrow we'll stay closer to Amboise. 

[mysty]

11 hours ago, drron29 said:

Here's a question for all the mind readers out there.

 

The answer is 7. 😁

[Lois R]

Hi DW🙂 always good to see you.

JP, lovely photos.....that Pan Purdue looks delicious. I always thought it was sort of the Frencb version of what we call French toast.......guess I was wrong LOL......looks nothing like the French toast I have eaten.

[jpalbny]

Just now, Lois R said:

photos.....that Pan Purdue looks delicious. I always thought it was sort of the Frencb version of what we call French toast.......guess I was wrong LOL......looks nothing like the French toast I have eaten.

 

No, you are correct. It is pretty much what we call "French toast" but in that dessert version, it was covered with ice cream, whipped cream, and some kind of chocolate sauce. So it was definitely "perdu"!

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Our first stop was Château de Chambord. It was beautiful despite the cloudy weather. 

...

Lots of festive decorations inside too. Some traditional, and others less so.

 

Harry Potter?  😀

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, jpalbny said:

We did get a look at the moss-covered roofs and decorations though. The upkeep must be a challenge around here.

 

When I was first there, in 1967 [yes!], DeGaulle's government had just embarked on major renovations at most of the châteaux.  That's why the marble is so white.  It also means the moss is no more than 55 years old [wow!  has it been that long...  makes me feel old].  I'll check its further growth on our next return in 2025 on our AMA post-cruise extension.

[Host Jazzbeau]

My review and blog of our trip to Portugal, including a 10-night Douro cruise on Scenic, is finally finished and published:

 

[TLCOhio]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

It is pretty much what we call "French toast" but in that dessert version, it was covered with ice cream, whipped cream, and some kind of chocolate sauce. So it was definitely "perdu"!

 

Super appreciate the wonderful Loire Valley visuals from J.P.   Keep 'em coming!!  Fun and brings back great memories.  Have visited the Loire twice, including 2005, when we saw part of the Tour de France there in that region.  See proof below from being in 2005 at the amazing Chambord, etc. 

 

Great background from Host Jazzbeau as to how in the 1960's that the DeGaulle administration had worked to clean up and make improvements for these historic structures. 

 

From our 2017 first visit to Portugal before boarding the Silver Spirit, I look forward to doing a return trip there, including to sail up and down the Douro.  Will review with strong interest that posting by Host Jazzbeau.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

[Host Jazzbeau]

8 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

From our 2017 first visit to Portugal before boarding the Silver Spirit, I look forward to doing a return trip there, including to sail up and down the Douro.  Will review with strong interest that posting by Host Jazzbeau.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

Warning:  it's l-o-n-g !!!

[jpalbny]

30 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

When I was first there, in 1967 [yes!], DeGaulle's government had just embarked on major renovations at most of the châteaux.  That's why the marble is so white.  It also means the moss is no more than 55 years old [wow!  has it been that long...  makes me feel old].  I'll check its further growth on our next return in 2025 on our AMA post-cruise extension.

 

Wow. Those châteaux are so old, they have moss that's older than me!

[TLCOhio]

1 minute ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Warning:  it's l-o-n-g !!!

 

YES!!  Understand "Good News, Bad News".  Did do a quick check as to your review.  Agree, the only "Bad News" is being long. 

 

BUT, the Best News is that things in your summary are highly-detailed with many, many nice pictures.  I recognize many of these locations from our 2017 time in Lisbon, Porto, etc. 

 

When handy, I look forward to going back and digging much deeper into this comprehensive review as we plan and prepare to put this on our future, scheduled listing of trips booked. 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Live/blog, June 2017 from Portugal to France along scenic Atlantic Coast on the Silver Spirit.  Now at 34,289 views.  Many pictures, details for history, food, culture, etc.:
www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

[DavyWavey70]

Looks incredible JP. Do they still make the liqueur there? 

[jpalbny]

1 hour ago, DavyWavey70 said:

Looks incredible JP. Do they still make the liqueur there? 

 

We were wondering! But we didn't see any.

[Lirio]

4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

My review and blog of our trip to Portugal, including a 10-night Douro cruise on Scenic, is finally finished and published:

Great and detailed review. Thank you. 

[Lirio]

@Host Jazzbeau 

I will keep posting about Brazilian historical churches and houses and you can see that they are quite like Portuguese ones (for obvious reason). They are similar in architecture and decoration style.

Should you ever come to Brazil, the best places to see historical churches and houses are Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Paraty which are ports of call (Paraty only to small cruise ships). Should you choose for a land trip, Minas Gerais has the best alternatives, and the main area is Ouro Preto that I will visit soon (I hope) and post pictures.

In any of these places you can see the Portuguese influence in every detail.

Most of tourists in Rio de Janeiro goes for carnival, samba, beaches and night life, but historical places are my favorite.

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, DavyWavey70 said:

Looks incredible JP. Do they still make the liqueur there? 

 

1 hour ago, jpalbny said:

We were wondering! But we didn't see any.

Short answer:  no.

 

Long answer:  The Chambord brand was developed in 1982 by Norton "Sky" Cooper at his family's cordial company, Charles Jacquin et Cie (later his son, Robert Cooper, would develop the elderflower liqueur, St-Germain).  The drink was inspired by raspberry liqueur made in the Loire Valley in the late 1600s, said to have been introduced to Louis XIV during one of his visits to the château de Chambord...  The Chambord product brand has been owned and produced by the Brown-Forman Corporation since 2006.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambord_(liqueur)

[CurlerRob]

 

🍺🥌

[Grand Duchess]

10 hours ago, mysty said:

 

The answer is 7. 😁

I always thought it was 42😊