European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 18, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse French Tourlis office photo who wont to travel at two wheel cd Pace Pott the Chateaux of the Loire. Leads to Amboise along route d-751. Cyclists must be great caution on this Road and All other major Ules. The tragic can be dangerously tast on these irrow roads. About 20 Kilometres irom blogs is the Little Village of mate sur Beau Ron. You won t land it in tour books cause it has no chateau or other noteworthy sights. It it has Madame Gonny and her wonderful guest Juse. You can Book a cozy room there for about 95 incs about $12 per night. If you Are there at dinner be Tor 45 francs about $6 you will be treated to Ermous potions of country style French cooking and generous helpings of hospitality. Bring your phrase Book and make friends at her Large table. The guest House is at 56 Rue de Chateaux. Tel. 1654-440331. A you continue Westward on route 0-751, you la see numerous caves in the Cliffs that Rise above the River. Enterprising wine merchants have opened shops in these natural caverns. Look for the signs that read caves Degus Taiin. There you can Sample and buy local wines. They make inexpensive souvenirs. About 40 Kilometres Down River irom Blois is Amboise. A town bustling with tourists from All Over the world. Its streets Are crowded in the summer especially on saturdays when a Market fills the narrow alleys of the town Center. Amboise has its chateau too a massive fortress built to defend the area. It seems like a Good place to be when the cannonballs begin to Fly its West Wall towers 50 feet above the Street. Mostly dismantled at the beginning of the last Century the remaining Section overlooks the town from a Hilltop. It is rumoured that Leonardo a Vinci once helped decorate the chateau. Clos Luce a Manor House near the chateau was his Home during the last years of his Lite. He is buried in Amboise. And there is a museum of his inventions and paintings in the basement of Clos Luce. Admission is 18 francs about $2,25. Ii is a fascinating record of one of the geniuses of history. Good food it easy to find in Amboise. Cre Peries restaurants serving crepes and brasseries bars abound and Many restaurants with High prices Cater to the throngs of visitors. You can eat with the locals at Chez Roger a popular Buffet style hangout where a five course lunch with wine costs 35 francs about $4.25. It is at 7 Rue de general Foy. Lunch Only closed weekends. A reasonable hotel room and dinner Are hard to find in Amboise. You May prefer to travel 15 Kilometres farther to montlouis to escape the crowds. The Best reason for going there is la tour Angelle a cozy but Classy restaurant. For 45 to 70 francs about $6 to $9 it offers an unforgettable dining experience. We had salad stuffed flounder vegetables potato souffle dessert cheese and wine for about 65 francs about $8 each. The restaurant is at 3 qua a Ballen. Tel. 1648-508115. The Loire slowly continues its journey flowing past Tours Saumur and angers on its Way to the Atlantic. The opportunities for exploring continue too. In each direction there is an endless variety of Chateaux villages and rolling Countryside. The elegant chateau Che Monceaux. The dungeons at Loches and tranquil chateau Culnon Are All within easy reach. Some Hearty tourists will follow the River along its entire route to the sea where they can begin a tour of France s rugged Atlantic coast. But in the Loire the route and the destination Aren t very important. If you take the time to see the Loire at its own Pace it will show you the Good life european style. For information about touring in the Loire Valley Contact the French National tourist office. Posl Fach 2927. D-6000 Frankfurt . Germany. Tel. 069 752029. Or French National tourist office 17 Rue de i in Senieur Keller. F-75740 Paris France. Sieve Barker it employed in the stars and str Pei circulation a bit of old by Gregory Jensen United press International Eardisley England is a Village that band together to take in guests. It is inviting the world into its ancient Homes to Sample a Way of life no City Dweller can re a bit isolated out Here said Jenny Laird who spurred the just begun program of organized weekends in two villages hugging the Welsh Border. We thought it would give us something to talk but it s a toss up As to whose conversation is stimulated most Eardisley s 594 villagers and those of its neighbor Britley or the handful of outsiders Lucky enough to share their country Village weekend Breaks. Tourism these Days is going upscale. The More expensive and elaborate the facility the More it seems to sen. Even some of England s stately Homes Are into the bed and breakfast business. Bui gird government official trying to boost this Beautiful but Little visited Corner of England decided that Britain s forgotten Frontier had something different to offer a simple but genuine Way of life. We re Friendly people in said housewife Margaret Whittal in her 400-year-old Kitchen. We like people and we have nothing to be never done this before said Josephine Burgoyne welcoming two outsiders to the forge her 500-year-old Home with immense Black beams an vast Stone fireplace. You must Tell me if i do anything she and other Eardisley villagers overwhelmed visitors with hospitality and a rare Chance to share a lifestyle essentially unchanged through the centuries. Discover the pure and simple pleasures of Village life says the publicity for these weekend package Tours. Visitors do just that. There Cream Tea with mrs. Whittal Woods eaves farm. Mrs. Rees will be demons rating a Rural Margaret Whittal bakes a marvelous scone and Sheila Rees deftly spins multicoloured yarn from a Jacob sheep fleece. There s dinner at the the Village s half timbered pub with your Host Fred Webb and cider maker Brian a naturalist leads a gentle tramp through the Lush Hill ringed Valley of the River Wye 150 Miles West of London. Visitors Swap gossip and life stories team of famous Village fist fights share the Village s joke traditions and slowly absorb what its Long history Means. We have evidence of 4.000 years of human occupation Here but the Village itself is of Saxon said Village historian David Gorvett. You can see the Central part of the Village is still in the typical Saxon size of plot and layout unchanged Lor 1,000 there Are Well known villages hereabouts Weobley Pembridge and a Hall dozen other Black and White villages known for their c usters of half timbered houses. By comparison Eardisley s Beauty is Only gradually revealed. In our whole history there has been no major event said Gorvett a retired headmaster. He does not count raids by welshmen pouring Over the Border in a tangled land always violently disputed. Or the night in the 1640s when a cromwellian mob burned Eardisley Castle to the ground. No King or Queen slept Here no epochal Battles were fought. Instead Eardisley s Farmers mechanics and tradesmen simply got on with their business which then As now was to live As villagers do everywhere though in More Beauty than Many. Nearby Brilley is hardly a Village at All merely a scattering of farmhouses on a Steep escarpment with glorious views. Eardisley has a True Center two shops a Post office two rival pubs glowering at each other across a single Street. Its Church has an amazingly carved Norman baptismal font which like the Church is older than any of its Black and White houses. These ancient houses one is nearly 700 years old and several Date from the 14th and 15th centuries have a cared for. Pin neat air that proves How their owners cherish them. Visitors get to know Many such Homes ducking Low beams admiring polished brass hearing the inevitable Story of How the current owner stripped away victorian e a additions to uncover huge fireplaces with built in bread ovens. Each Village runs its own schedule for up to a dozen visitors on 14 such weekends through oct. 20. They Are inexpensive not at All Chic but a genuine Chance to share however briefly a different and enviable Way of life. If they succeed. Laird Hopes to spread the idea to other Border villages. Meantime information is available from Jenny Laird Leominster marches project 44 Duke Street Kington. Herefordshire hr5 3dr, England. Umber 18.1985 the stars and stripes Page 15
