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Lunch was a Subway sandwich, which we brought with us to have once we arrived, which is exactly what we did after our brief train ride

I hadn't been in this neck of the woods for about 30 years, so it would be interesting to see if I remembered anything - the Clos Luce inventions certainly rang a few bells. Just over 20 minutes away from Tours you can appreciate this 15th century royal palace, along with Close Luce, formerly home to Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) who lived there from 1516-1519 as a guest of King Francis I (1494-1547), who, effectively was his boss, while they both seem to have deeply admired one another. The great painter and inventor is buried in the small chapel at Amboise in a tomb that gives one the impression that he was a humble man. In Da Vinci's old house, it got a little too much for us as there was a lot of people crammed into a small area while wearing masks and we exited at one point as the waiting time was too long to see the last remaining rooms. We stopped for a cake and drink; I sampled their local cider and ended up buying a local beer, which I tried a bit later.

* One other interesting Da Vinci fact that relates to Chambord (see post). He designed the famous double helix staircase, which, as with many of his creations, was a marvel of engineering, and way ahead of his time. A model of this astounding architectural wonder, along with countless other inventions he created, can be seen at Clos Luce.