Le Fleuray Hotel & Restaurant

Wonderful Country Inn

by rexvaughan about Le Fleuray Hotel

The Le Fleuray is what I call a true country inn as it is about 20 minutes from Amboise near Cangey. It is set in the lovely Loire countryside and the hotel and dining room are beautifully decorated with a nice homey feel. The staff is extremely sharp, courteous and entertaining. The restaurant serves mostly hotel guests but they welcome others and we saw several who came just for dinner. The prices for the fixed menu start at 26.50 euros not including beverages. When we had dinner here the first night of our stay, one of our party said, "Why would we want to eat anywhere else?" Everyone agreed that we could not find a better place so we ate there each evening. Everything we had was wonderful. The salads crisp and delicious, very good chicken, lamb, onion tarts and the desserts were excellent. I tried the "tarte tatin" and the poached pear and both were delicious.

Adorable Amboise

by rexvaughan

"Some Whimsey"

Our first encounter with Amboise was driving in and parking next to the TI where there was also a walkway along the Loire. It is always interesting going into a town or city to enjoy its historic parts and find some modern day whimsey. I know nothing about the fountain except it is there in the park and does tend to put you in a good mood. The TI was very helpful with a map and we strolled on into town. I don't know what the train behind the fountain is. We didn't check it out as the town is small enough to walk wherever you want to go.

"The Royal Chateau"

It is an easy walk up to the Chateau. I enjoyed seeing the interior, but even more enjoyed the garden and St. Hubert's Chapel where Leonardo is buried. I think the carving on the front facade is wonderful. The two figures over the entrance are Charles VIII and his wife, Anne of Brittany, at prayer. The carving is from the 19th C.

"Chateau Gardens"

The gardens are very spacious and lovely with huge lawns as well as some fowering plant. One of the most impressive things is this magnificent huge conifer. I don't know its family, maybe pine, but it does have cones.

"Chateau du Clos Luce"

The gardens are a nice place to sit and think, rest, have a cup or glass. This view is from one of the windows in Leonardo's house and if you look between the overhanging branches above the fountain you can see the Royal Chateau where his friend, Francois I, lived.

"Do you have one of these for your wine?"

Don't know anything about this but it was in Leonardo's house and I was quite taken with it. I assume that is baby Bacchus sitting astride the cask and inviting all to imbibe the vin.

"Genius at work"

If you ever doubted that da Vinci was a genius, a trip through this display will change your mind. Here are displayed a number of his sketches and some of them have been modeled by IBM. He had blueprints for parachutes, tanks, cameras, paddle boats, flying machines, helicopters,bridges , pumps, guns - you name it. The photo is of a catapult he designed.

"Le Fleuray Hotel"

Here is the reception room of the Le Fleuray. It is nicely furnished, has loads of books and is a great place for a late afternoon gin & tonic.

"Foggy Sunrise"

It looks like there are buildings in this pic, but those are trees in the foggy sunrise. This was taken from just outside the LeFleuray Hotel. Having clouds around most days did mean there were some spectacularly colorful sunrises and sunsets.