30th October

I woke up and watched the Bake Off Final. It made me cry! Poor Steph! She had such a bad time and I so wanted her to win. David was a very worthy winner though (although I believe there has been a lot of stuff written on social media saying that he “stole” the title- ridiculous) so well done to him. A whole year to wait for it to be back- but Junior Bake Off starts on Monday and, if you’ve never seen it before, you’re in for a treat. The kids are brilliant- so open and honest as children are. Not to mention being very talented.

Lovely FaceTime chat with Barbara, then off to the Chateau du Clos Lucé.

Built in 1471, for Louis XI’s master of the household, and standing 400 metres from the Château Royal d’Amboise, the most famous occupant of this château is the great Leonardo da Vinci who lived here from 1516 until his death in 1519. In the service of François I, he worked as an architect and town planner, continued his research into anatomy, meteorology and geology and completed his painting of John the Baptist. He then displayed this masterpiece alongside those of the Mona Lisa and Saint Anne which he had brought with him to France.

Can you tell I’m a fan?! I love his paintings. Going to Milan to see his Last Supper was a real highlight for me. I always think of Will too when Leonardo da Vinci is mentioned because he is also a big fan and he would love it here.

The grounds of the château are beautiful and are full of images from his paintings and working models of his inventions.

Then inside the château you can see his actual bedchamber and his actual workshop and laboratory. So good! There are several exhibition spaces too and also a “museographical hall” where there are lots of interactive and creative things going on, from recreating his inventions to doing jigsaws of his paintings. It’s still school holidays here so it was very busy yesterday. A lovely hive of activity 🙂 Reminded me of when my boys were little. We’d have definitely been in there doing stuff!

After looking around the château I had a delicious crêpe with stewed apple and a coffee. Mmmm!

A small observation from today. There seemed to be an abundance of very handsome men at this château One of them was wearing a long black cloak. I thought initially he must be a priest (Fleabag priest moment!) but I think he was actually an employee of the château as he kept stepping behind the barriers to the exhibitions and talking a lot!

I also saw as I was leaving the park, and at really close quarters, a red squirrel. It was holding a fir cone or something in it’s paws but took off up a tree before I could get a photograph.

I know I bang on about it a lot but I listened to another hilarious episode of My Dad Wrote a Porno on the way home. So funny. It’s not the book- it’s the reactions of James, Jamie and Alice to the content of the book. Love it!

I also listened to Off Menu tonight whilst I was writing and wonderful Tom Allen was the guest in the dream restaurant 🙂 Brilliant!

Bonne nuit 🙂