We left Moulin Fort early in the morning to drive the short distance to Amboise where my priority was to spend the day at Clos Luce, home of Leonardo da Vinci for the last 3 years of his life. In the autumn of 1516 he accepted the invitation of Francis I to live at Clos Luce under the king’s protectorship. He brought with him all his manuscripts and 3 paintings – St John the Baptist, The Virgin and Child and of course, the Mona Lisa. These paintings now hang in the Louvre in Paris but there is a copy of the Mona Lisa in the dining room at Clos Luce.

The visit to the house begins by climbing up the watchtower and thence into Da Vinci’s bedroom, where he died aged 67. You continue into the studio where he painted and his study where he worked on his various inventions. I think you only get to understand how incredible he was, light years ahead of his time, when you visit the model rooms. Here are recreated 40 machines based on the original drawings of da Vinci and built with materials of the time. 3d animations of his designs for a tank, car, the swing bridge, paddle boat and aerial screw helicopter and parachute really bring to life how his inventions worked.

The gardens are a delight with full size reproductions of his inventions. The painter and architect galleries are awe inspiring when you realise the full scope of his genius. Mathematics, urban design, town planning, designing royal palaces, civil and military architecture. I loved the painter gallery in which you have a virtual experience of all his paintings. For me, one day wasn’t enough, I’d love to go back and explore again.

However, it had been a long time since breakfast so we wandered down into Amboise and found a nice restaurant for a light lunch. I really liked Amboise, we explored the town for a while and decided that we would defer visiting the Chateau for another holiday. It was time to drive off to the next campsite at Chaumont for an overnight stop before heading off to Blois the next day. We were woken early by the sound of gas burners and the sight of balloons drifting up into the sky. And there an idea was formed that it would be a nice way to end our sojourn in the Loire valley, but more of that later.