Memories of Amboise

Amboise is my favourite Loire Valley city. Though it was the historic architecture that first attracted me, the memories I celebrate here are of a personal nature and reflect the heartfelt hospitality I have always received in the city.

Au Cheval Blanc (At The White Horse) Le Cheval Blanc is a hotel and restaurant near the chateau. When I was a guest in 2002 the proprietress was a young Spanish woman whose warmth, allied with the animated gestures of a flamenco dancer, quite disarmed me. I began this piece on my return to England, but Teresa has subsequently sold the hotel and moved away I know not where, so she will never know about the music she inspired.

A la Patisserie Bigot (At the Bigot Patisserie) La Patisserie Bigot is my favourite salon de the. I have paid many visits but still fondly recall the first one in 1978. Since its opening it has been presided over by successive Bigot family matriarchs, and I am lucky enough to have met the three ladies who have fulfilled this role. In fact on my last visit in 2008 they were all were present and my wife and I have happy memories of sharing a table with the charming grand-mere who first welcomed me thirty years previously.

My Memories of Amboise are therefore dedicated to the four ladies whose hospitality was my inspiration, and after lying unfinished for eighteen years, the pieces were completed in 2020 at the request of harpist Rachel Talitman, for whose enthusiasm I am ever grateful. Paul Lewis