23 December 2017

Le pont de Chinon

The town of Chinon is in western Touraine — southwest of Tours. It's a 60- to 90-minute drive from Saint-Aignan, depending on whether you take local roads or the limited-access, high-speed autoroute. It's three or four hours by train from Paris. The town of Chinon, on the banks of the Vienne river, sits in the middle of some of the most prestigious red-wine vineyards of Touraine. The main grape is Cabernet Franc.


Here are three shots of the bridge that spans the Vienne at Chinon. The river is 372 kilometers (230 miles) long, and it flows into the Loire (length 1,000 km) just a few kilometers west of Chinon. In the photo above, that's Walt walking with our dog Collette, who left this world in 2006 at the age of 14, along the tree-lined street that borders the river. These photos date back to 2005.


From up on the grounds of the château, the view above, looking south, shows the bridge deck and the part of town that's on the south (or "left") bank of the river. The population of Chinon is about 8,000, making it twice as big as Saint-Aignan and comparable to the town of Loches in eastern Touraine.


It was the Plantagenet family of Anjou that played a great role in developing Chinon nearly a thousand years ago. Henri II, who was to become king of England in 1154 and reign for more than 30 years, had adopted Chinon as his favorite residence. He had the bridge reinforced and quais built along the riverbanks — not to mention the château, of which the Michelin guide says that what you see today was built, essentially, during Henri II's time there.

10 comments:

  1. Remarkable, the age of the bridge and chateau. The plane trees lining the river banks look quite old too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't believe how long it's been since I last went over to Chinon. Except when we went to get Natasha last April — she was born there. But we didn't go into the old town that time.

      Delete
  2. Merry Xmas to you & Walt.....happy eating

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have a merry merry, you too, Melinda. Gobble gobble.

      Delete
  3. Oh, I would love to walk along the river under those plane trees! Merry Christmas Eve eve, from Eve.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Merry Christmas Eve eve to you too, Eve. It's gray and damp here, but festive. K.

      Delete
  4. Walt corrected me, when we were visiting with you two, because I had thought that part of the movie (The Lion In Winter -- which was set in Chinon), was actually filmed at the ruins of the château... but, it was not. So, I looked it up today, and this page actually gives a list of where a few of the major scenes were filmed. Some, at least, were in France!
    Judy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I too thought that The Lion in Winter had been at least partially in Chinon, but I was wrong. Walt told me most of it was filmed in the Rhône Valley and Provence, with scenes shot at sites in the U.K. too. I looked it up on IMDB, and that is the case.

      Delete
  5. There is a nice railway bridge, as you know, from the abandoned line to Richelieu. We had a wonderful picnic under those beautiful Sycamores, and watched the steam engine switch back and forth on the bridge, assembling the day's train that we would ride. A perfect summer day it was! Now a green path, and the locomotive has gone somewhere in Alsace....

    ReplyDelete
  6. I wish I could transport myself ( magically) into the first photo .. the Plane trees .. memories of Paris .. just memories :)

    ReplyDelete

What's on your mind? Qu'avez-vous à me dire ?