When we left home, heading southeast of Paris, we thought we were really prepared. We had our Green Guide for the Loire Valley published by Michelin and indispensible; our new swanky little GPS route locator, reservations in a cool b&b chambres d'hôte and a full tank of gazole - diesel. What! Unseasonably cold, and dangerouse driving conditions! You know how everything over the loud speaker sounds like the adults in Charley Brown? Well, that is kind of how we are when it comes to listening to the weather and traffic news updates.
At least there were no lines for the bathrooms, and we could park in the front row! The views were awesome, and we grew accustomed to the cold. Wearing Mom's new scarf on the inside of my winter coat, and the french made hat and scarf I received for Christmas, along with two pair of socks and several shirts -- I was ready for yet another amazing adventure. We saw some of the most beautiful chateâux created between the 11th and 18th centuries. For those of you who know my curiosity about prisons, I checked out the best of them in Loches (pronounced Lush) and most of the other chateâux had them as well.
We walked in the house where Leonardo DaVinci retired to write his memoirs, and in the Chapel where Jeanne d'Arc convinced a not yet King Charles to believe her and to seek his crown. Where Phillipe August betrayed King Henry of England, and where Francois I spent a whole lot of money, and not much time. My favorite site was Loche, started in the 10th century, which served as a prison for many years for many famous outspoken political figures and the home of the famous Agnes Sorrel, the mistress of the Charles VII(?).
All of the chateaus were huge, and works of architectural wonder, but particularly Chenonceaux, Chambord and the Abbaye de Fontevraud. If you go to Blois, don't miss dinner at the l'Orangerie. It was the best food I have had in France.
KIM - we have our Chateaux garden tour picked out.
As an aside, Hello to all my fellow grads who look this up ~ Thanks Wayne.
For now, it is back to suburbia France, on the couch through the New Year's fireworks, and blogging with my friends.
