Could the US have a program of “The Most Beautiful Villages” as France does?
Dr. V and I, and friends Jeremy W. of Le Cafe Witteveen and the lovely Tina S., spent about a week in the Indre et Loire, a stone’s throw from Montresor, named one of the “Les Plus Beaux Villages” in France. And it is breathtaking.
![The village below the chateau.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c0bf22_24a4bc15d8564fc8a214216b3957e221~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_138,h_184,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/c0bf22_24a4bc15d8564fc8a214216b3957e221~mv2.jpg)
The village below the chateau. RL Fifield.
There are ancient cottages connected by small green paths and streams, best visible from the gardens atop a rocky promontory where the Chateau de Montresor sits. Owned by a Polish count, the fragments of 15th century chateau are surrounded by late 19th/early 20th tangles of gardens and views of undulating roofs of the houses far below.
We tried to get a meal – the beginning of a long running joke. The Cafe in Montresor only serves dinner on Friday. Other restaurants in Beaumont advertised being “Open” but were never open. But I did get a regional potato galette at the boulangerie, located one street behind the Cafe and across from the ancient Montresor market. It was a good thing I did, as the next day she went on les vacances.
![Market building at Montresor.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c0bf22_e0092b3f276844b68fd35a47e34ffc16~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_138,h_184,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/c0bf22_e0092b3f276844b68fd35a47e34ffc16~mv2.jpg)
Market building at Montresor. RL Fifield.
Our merry band had a good time discerning French cuts of meat in the local superette at the gas station. But that’s what a good trip does – takes you out of your comfort zone at the most basic level, and builds you back up again.