Europe: Chateaux Excursion

One day while we were in Angers, my mom and dad set up for us to go to a couple of Chateaus. Since Angers is in the Loire valley, they aren’t too far from some of the most amazing castles in the world. We took a train to Tours, then hopped in a van with Patrick, our driver. We sat squished up front with him while a Portuguese family and another couple ladies sat in the back.

Our first stop was Chambord. It was about an hour drive from Tours. Chambord is the biggest castle in the Loire valley and was originally used as a hunting fortress for Francois I. It is pretty plain inside, but is quite a site from the outside. It has 325 fireplaces! And the view from the back is beautiful as it sits right on the edge of a forest.

On the train to our castle adventure!

   

They were doing some restoring on the castle but this is where we entered. Good News: It was a nice sunny day. Bad News: Little bright for Bryce…kind of like our wedding day :)

  

One of my favorite parts of this castle is the double helix staircase. If I got up one side, and Bryce goes up the other, we never meet, unless we take a peek through the windows. I think it is so beautiful and so clever!

                   

Anyone need to go to the bathroom?

Lots of rooms had evidence that this was indeed a hunting fortress.

How would you like to have this as your backyard?

                

Another view from the back and Bryce taking a break while I went and took a better look at the castle.

What a view! Bryce missed out.

After Chambord we got back in the nice van that blew hot air, and headed over to Chenonceau. Chenonceau is a chateau built over water. It has a more feminine touch as it was mostly designed by women. This is one of my favorite castles. I just think I would like to live on a river…you could jump out of your bedroom window into the river!

     

You really can’t even see the chateau unless you pay to go in because it is surrounded by trees. As soon as you emerge from the trees you see the beautiful gardens and castle in front of you.

       

I loved looking out onto the water from the Chateau. Especially if I had this good lookin’ guy wavin’ at me.

      

Bryce cookin’ up some lunch, and I was tempted to take a nap on this bed…

 

We enjoyed hanging out in the gardens around the castle.

 

They had a little labyrinth/maze. It wasn’t very difficult for Bryce as you can imagine.

 

We had to wait for quite some time until the next train to Angers so we spent awhile in the square in front of the train station watching people and killing time. We were so glad we got to go on this little excursion.

Thanks Mom and Dad!