Chinon is the medieval village where Joan of Arc once gathered soldiers and passed through its walls. She slept in its inn and watered her horse in a small courtyard. The stone of this town has witnessed much living and breaths past times that are suddenly on the heels of the present. We remember here. The town square branches out into streets filled with gastronomic shops, galleries, fine apparel,bakeries, chocolateries, cafes, restaurants , salons and more. Chinon rests along the Vienne River, a tributary to the great Loire River. Its wines are world famous and the Thursday market busts the streets with fresh farmer seasonal produce, charcuterie and seafood. Theatrical events are often arranged each season for children or adults; and for those untroubled by the French language there is a cinema some two minutes from our home with all of the latest movies---dubbed of course.

My favorite way to experience Chinon is to meander its streets with my daughters, looking in shop windows. Better still are our aimless walks on the chateau streets that narrow and turn unexpectedly down small side alleys and flights of stairs. The air is wet with moist stone smell and flowers. The old stone homes built in different periods (hard for my untrained eye to detect which era)are often romantic and charming with their hidden coves and passages. It is told that the persecuted once used the many caves and passages below the chateau to hide. Now many of those passages have been filled in but their enranceways are still existing as seen in the suspended garden wall behind our home. Our own cave is really just a small passage that leads to ... Like in many caves in Chinon, we have a spring in the rock.

In the house we have brochures for many interesting activities to do in the vicinity. Chinon is a wonderful sight from which to branch out and see the many castles in the vicinity and many vineyards as well. Its smallness (9000 residents) and well preserved architecture make it memorable and replete with ambience. Twenty minutes drive from our home is a public pool, both indoor and outdoor which my daughters of three and ten have thoroughly enjoyed. We are thirty minutes from the refined town Saumur. And Tours with its large shopping, theatrical and dining possibilities is a forty-fifty minute drive through vast expanses of forest. Those forests are meandered every fall after a rain for mushroom gathering. Just be sure to have a book to identify species as many are poisonous but the right ones, delicious. Paris itself is a two and a half hour drive from Chinon in moderate traffic and still faster when taking the TVA (train) from Tours. For me, France is best felt right here in the small towns. Medieval Chinon has captured our imaginations.