Rue Nationale

Rue Nationale is the main street of old Amboise, a pedestrian street that runs from the quays of the Loire into the town and gives a good idea of how a small royal town lives today. It is a place for slow walking, with traffic kept out, shop windows to browse and café terraces that spill onto the pavement in warm weather. The buildings along it are mostly of pale tuffeau limestone, the soft local stone used throughout the Loire Valley, and the slate roofs and window frames give the street an even, harmonious look.

The street is dominated by the Tour de l'Horloge, the Clock Tower, built in the fifteenth century as one of the gates of the walled town. It crosses the street with a large arch under which passers-by walk, and it is topped by a clock and a bell. Its tall, narrow shape is a good reference point for finding your way around the old centre, and its position, framing the view up the street, makes it one of the most photographed corners of Amboise. A gateway of this kind is a reminder that the town was once enclosed, and that the street was an entry point for those coming from the river.

Amboise was one of the favourite residences of the French kings in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, and the town benefited from the court's presence. Rue Nationale and the lanes around it were lived in by merchants, craftsmen and servants who worked for the royal household, and some of the old houses along the street have carved details and timber frames from that period. Today the shops sell regional products, among them wines from nearby Vouvray and Montlouis, pastries, chocolate, crafts and souvenirs, and the patisseries are a pleasant stop in the middle of a walk. Markets are held in the town on certain mornings of the week, and they add to the life of the centre.

The street is a natural link between the main sights. At one end it leads toward the Château d'Amboise, perched on its rock above the roofs, and from the foot of the walls the sloping path leads up to the entrance. A short walk beyond, the Clos Lucé, where Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years, can be reached on foot. The Église Saint-Denis and the Maison du Vieux Amboise, which tells the story of the town, lie nearby, and the Parc de la Chaufferie and the Sentier des Bords de Loire, along the river, offer an easy green walk.

There are no tickets or hours, as it is a public street, and shop hours vary. It suits a leisurely half-hour walk, a lunch stop or an afternoon of browsing.