Chateau d'Usse

In the summer of 1990 we had driven from our home in Germany to meet family and to camp in Brittany. Whenever we went into France I always tried to choose a route there and back that would include interesting places to visit. Leaving our campsite at Carnac I decided to return via the Loire valley and visit some of the chateaux. Around mid-day one day we stopped at Chateau d'Usse which is associated with the story of the Sleeping Beauty. In the parking area there was just one large tree providing shade on a hot day. I think it was a chestnut and we found there was a space to park our car under it. About a week later we met an American couple who were two of our best friends in Germany. They had relatives visiting them from the USA and they had taken them touring in France. They had been to see the garden of Claude Monet at Giverny and had then headed for the Loire. We discovered they had parked on the same day, under the same tree at Chateau d'Usse about 30 minutes after we left. It would have been even better if they had been pulling in just as we left. We had not been aware of their plans or they of ours.