MONTREUIL-BELLAY

La Belle Kristina
Kristina is Karen’s latest au-pair. She is from Chicago but was born in Russia. She came to America when she was 13. My nephew Andrew became very attached to her when he passed through here last week on his Grand Tour (France and Amsterdam, including a heavy metal festival).




Timmy and Helen arrived last night. They flew into Nantes then rented a car and drove to Montsoreau. They arrived at about 6 in the evening so we did very little except hang out and have dinner.
Today we took them to see the chateau of Montreuil-Bellay. Kristina dropped Nico off at school and came with us.
This chateau is in a town on the main road between Poitier and Saumur. It was built overlooking the Thouet River, a tributary of the Loire.
The guided tour was included in the price of admission. After the tour we sampled the wine made from grapes grown on the chateau lands. The chateau itself was an important winemaking center in the past but now the wine is made elsewhere.
We had lunch across the street from the chateau. I had a big bowl of mussels and French fries “moules frites”, definitely the best thing about Montreuil-Bellay.
After lunch we walked down to the river for a pleasant stroll along the bank. The temperature was about 90ºF so it was nice to be in the shade and close to the river.