Friday, July 29, 2011

This is where we started

When Ken and I decided to buy a house in France, our first idea was to look for one in or around Amboise. We had vacationed across the river in Vouvray a couple of times and really liked the area. Amboise is a good sized town with a population of about 12,500.

Central Amboise, looking down river, seen from the château's terraces.

The town itself is very pretty. It's a big tourist destination because of the château and consequently is filled with restaurants and shops and a significant pedestrian section in the heart of town. Amboise's Sunday market on the banks of the Loire river is a huge regional attraction; it's easily the largest weekly market around us.

We looked at three houses in Amboise back in 2002, but none of them interested us for one reason or another. Our realtor told us that we could get more of what we had in mind, along with more for our money, if we looked a little farther afield. It was because of him that we found Saint-Aignan, about twenty-five miles from Amboise, and the rest is history!
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11 comments:

  1. Niall & Antoinette29 July, 2011 10:18

    We also 1st looked at Amboise back in '95. At the time it was for a maison secundaire. Found a great house but were outbid by another party. Never thought then we'd end up living in Touraine permanently 15 yrs later.

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  2. Mark29 July, 2011 14:51

    I may need the name of that Realtor one day.
    m.

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  3. Seine Judeet (Judith)29 July, 2011 15:39

    Great history :)

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  4. Anonymous29 July, 2011 16:07

    I love this photo, Walt. The small figures in the foreground and the beautiful countryside in the distance gives me such a strong sense of what the area is like. I'd love to leap into the picture and walk around town.

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  5. Ron29 July, 2011 18:02

    Tis a lovely town though. I can see why you're so happy living in France.

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  6. Mary29 July, 2011 21:34

    I hadn't noticed so many brightly colored awnings when I last visited France on market days. Lovely. Seeing the variety of rooves (roofs?) makes the photo quite intriguing!

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  7. Ginny30 July, 2011 05:18

    Amboise is lovely, I'm sure, but I think you ended up in the perfect place for you and Ken.

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  8. Ron30 July, 2011 06:00

    Walt,
    How did you get your header picture to widen? I can't figure this out. Thanks!

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  9. wcs30 July, 2011 08:24

    n&a, amazing!

    mark, whenever you're ready. ;)

    judy, seems like another lifetime ago.

    anon, and it's just as nice as you'd imagine.

    ron, yes. As for the header, you have to go into your template's html code and determine the width (idn pixels) of the blog header, then size your photo (using whatever photo processing software you use) to that size. Then you re-import the photo into your header the normal way.

    mary, the awnings you see in this shot are restaurants and shops. The market is along the banks of the river, which is just beyond the buildings.

    ginny, we think so, too. :)

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  10. wcs30 July, 2011 08:25

    ron, that should be "width in pixels."

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  11. Craig30 July, 2011 13:38

    I've always liked the look of Amboise. The overhead shot from the helicopter during the TDF was excellent.

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