Azay-Le-Rideau.

I’ve already been here for a month? It’s going fast.

I finally skipped town to get a feel of what else the Touraine has to offer. And it’s very generous, I must say. It really is the perfect home base to visit the copious amounts of chateaux and jardins, all within a short bus ride’s (complete with Whitney Houston and No Doubt soundtrack) distance.

I invited Xen’s academic advisor, a thirty-two year old Vietnamese married father of two, to accompany us to Azay-Le-Rideau, one of the earliest constructed Renaissance castles. I’ve got quite a broad range of friends here. As much as I enjoy the new company, every discovery I make or monument I visit makes me wish I was back with my Palois people. It just isn’t the same.

After the crowds died down at the end of the day, Azay-Le-Rideau revealed itself to be incredibly peaceful. Like most castles (the one glaring exception being Versailles), they are more interesting on the exterior, although ALR boasted a hearty collection of interesting tapestries, the most I’ve seen since Chateau d’Henri IV in Pau. Although the chateau was just a mini Chenonceau, I really enjoyed the expansive greenspace around the castle. I just posted up on a bench and listened to the wind in the trees until everyone was ready to go.

---

---