Loire Valley

The weekend began on Friday, another cold rainy day in Paris. Anna Kerri and I went to see a French movie, “Ensemble, c’est tout” with Audrey Toutou (from Amelie/DaVinci Code). It was pretty good, kind of random/predictable but it was all in French with no subtitles and we understood which was exciting. For some reason they wouldn’t take my Visa card there, only American Express which was really opposite and unnerving. Also, once we bought the tickets we had 15 mins until the movie started, and they wouldn’t even let us downstairs to stand outside of the theatre until 5 mins before, very strange. On Friday I also received my backpack that I purchased on eBay France, only 1.5 days after ordering, yay.

We left for the Loire area extremely early in the morning on Saturday. We had a brand new tour bus with the same salty bus driver named Didier. This time both Gabriel and Annamaria came (not Sylvie unfortunately) and they brought their adorable toddler son, Mattheiu. The whole time I couldn’t get over how well-behaved and cute he was, obviously he speaks French and it’s amazing. This bus had areas where there were seats facing inwards around tables, and although it was nice to have a table to put stuff on/do crossword puzzles (of course), I was looking forward to having iPod/sleeping/don’t bother me time which never happened because everyone was talking.

The first chateau we visited upon arrival was Chambord, built in the 16th century, the pamphlet claims 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces, and 426 rooms, wow. The chateau is known for it’s Italian-style double staircase. Parts of it were under construction, but it was interesting and the rooms that were available for viewing were beautiful. We ate lunch at the café that is situated just outside the chateau (this one was out in the wilderness, not in a town area), I got onion soup, it wasn’t that great, Mom’s is better. The next chateau was Blois, this one we had a guided tour for. Our tour guide was an American who has been living in France since 1973 and never goes back to America, I’d love to know his life story. Apparently the Duke de Guise was stabbed to death in his bedroom there. I was secretly hoping to see some dried blood or something, a little proof, but unfortunately there was none.

After the 2nd chateau, we had a “surprise” which ended up being a short tour of a local vignoble (vineyard) with a tasting afterwards. It was a great treat, we were able to sample at least 6 different kinds of wine, complete with appetizers. It’s important to mention that each glass we were given was almost full. In about 10 minute’s time, we all were in extremely good spirits. I won’t go into the details, but it ended up being quite a wild afternoon. I bought 2 bottles, one of a delicious rose that is like juice and a sweet white. Each bottle cost less than a glass of wine in Paris, c’etait formidable!

We retired to our hotel, a lovely Holiday Inn, a million times nicer than the last hotel we had. Went out to dinner, ordered a flammekouche of course, and a great crepe. Some wanted to go to a bar, I didn’t want to, but felt that I had to at least go and be social even though I/everyone else was exhausted (they just weren’t admitting it). Christina called while people were trying to find a bar and we had a great convo, by the end everyone was halfway through a pitcher of beer. We didn’t get in too late which was good because I am sleep deprived from the past week of waking up no later than 7 am every day. Sunday morning I was delighted to find an incredible breakfast spread, hot stuff such as sausage/eggs (I didn’t partake in that part), cereal, yogurt (yum, I’m addicted), pain au chocolate (!!!), baguettes, little jars of jam, the greatest juice I’ve ever had (it was simply labeled as “multivitamin”), and also some random meats and fruit. I raved about how much better this breakfast was than that last one for about 20 minutes. We made ham sandwiches to bring with us for lunch, which worked out perfectly again.

We visited the chateau of Chenonceau, by far my favorite of the three. It’s surrounded by many gardens, water, and forests with paths. This chateau was also constructed in the 16th century, and was home to Henri II, his wife, Catherine de Medicis, and Henri’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers, as well as many other famous royalty throughout the years (not all at once). We gallivanted through the gardens, visited the chateau, and took a walk through the forest. In the forest, I had an intense allergy attack which sucked but I took an allergy pill and moved on. I have great photos to share of this lovely weekend.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/558474689MgjMGD

Tonight, Louise’s parents are coming for dinner, I'm sure I'll have stories to tell...