LOIRE VALLEY

Our next destination was Tours, France located in the Loire Valley. We were here for about a week, and ended up spending a few days working and watching a few seasons of The Office (gotta have some down time). The other days were spent visiting the châteaux in the valley (there are about 300 châteaux here). Loire Valley means Valley of the Kings. The French Royalty built their summer homes there, and once we got there we quickly realized why.

The first château we visited was Château de Villandry, and it was absolutely gorgeous. It is privately owned, and there have been a few modern additions made over the years. There were several Asian-influenced rooms with Japanese paintings and Chinese pottery. There was also a really cool parlour with an intricate ceiling influenced by the Moors.

We also got to climb a very, very steep spiral staircase up to the very top of the castle. It was an incredible view of the grounds. It was so majestic, in fact, that I went down and snapped a few pictures of Marcus overlooking the tower, looking very royal.

The grounds have an expansive garden with herbs and vegetables along with flowers and shrubbery (Ni!). There is a huge lake on the property where dozens of swans swim around all day. It was very picturesque! It is so incredibly impressive how they are able to care for the place so meticulously.

We decided to end the day with the garden labyrinth that was on the grounds. It was a race, and needless to say, Marcus lost. Victoire au Château de Villandry!

The next château we visited was Chenonceau. This was one of our favorite days spent in France. Château de Chenonceau was gifted by King Henry to his mistress Diane de Poitiers. However, after the king died, his wife Catherine de Medici took the château from her and expanded it. A portion of the castle goes over the River Cher and boasts gorgeous bridges. I’m a big fan of the show Reign, so this was a fun piece of history to see in real life.

We actually didn’t go inside Château de Chenonceau, we canoed underneath it! We packed a delicious lunch consisting of a baguette, crab dip, and some eclairs. The vantage point from the river was stunning, and undoubtedly sported the best views of the castle. The river was very calm, and the trees around us offered a shady refuge from the scorching summer heat.

We paddled underneath the grand arches and discovered a very dungeonesque entrance to the castle. We also canoed around the moat. Yes, we canoed in a French castle moat. It was an amazing day!!

The third and final château we visited was Château d’Amboise. This was on our last day in the Loire Valley, and it was a scorcher! We walked around the little village surrounding the castle, and it was adorable to say the least. There was a very medieval feel to it. There were the classic picturesque cobblestone streets, and some of the cutest little shops and restaurants. (By the way, how are there so many restaurants in France?? How do they all stay in business??) We moseyed on up to the château, with pistachio ice cream in hand.

We toured through the château, which had a whole special exhibit on Leonardo da Vinci. He lived there during the last few years of his life and, as legend has it, he was on his deathbed when the King embraced him. Realizing he had pretty much peaked at that point, he passed on. There are dozens of artistic interpretations of this moment in the château, along with a bust of Leonardo and what is supposed to be his tomb (not confirmed).

We finished off the day by packing up again and spending a modest 7 hours at the Starbucks in front of City Hall. Hey, our bus didn’t leave until midnight, we had to kill time somehow. It was actually a beautiful little spot! We both read on our Kindles for a few hours, and then went for some sushi! Then we took an only moderately creepy night walk to the parking lot where our bus picked us up. For anyone who has never taken a night bus, I would describe it as like being first class on a luxury cruise. It’s quiet, cool, roomy, and comfortable. Falling asleep is as easy as it can get on a night bus. Actually, it’s pretty much the opposite of that. It was rough, and we hardly slept at all. It was a long night, but we did eventually make it to our next destination in France: Lyon!