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Published: June 21st 2008
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Chenonceau
We had the best view in the whole place Bonjour from Tours,
So much to write, Tonight Tours is holding its Fete du la musique, with all different bands and music being played in different parts of the city. All the bars and restaurants open to the street and everyone wanders from one to the other to hear the different music. It should be fun, its already going strong as I write this in the late afternoon. We have been chateaux hopping in the last few days. It is soooo nice to have the car and the GPS, it really is fun to just get in the little Renault and go. We have seen some lovely little villages, and lots of fields of wildflowers and plenty of farm eqiptment.
By far my favorite Chateau was Chenonceau. It intersects the river, the castle litterally built on pylons in the middle of the river accessable by drawbridge only. It housed the female mistresses of Kings from Francois to Henri. The Castle is beautiful, something out of a fairytale; I can imagine a castle full of women, the rivalry, maybe some things more illicit? The decor is fabulous, silks and satins in pastels and reds, intricate fabrics, and open light filled
Les Jardins
is there a leaf out of place? passageways. And the gardens are very french; perfectly planned acording to an elaborate design of diagonals and swirls, bursts of colored roses breaking the clean lines of the hegdes with a flourish. Although frustrated by many tourists in the main castle, one we got out into the gardens to wander we really felt the splendor of the place. We spent the afternoon sitting in the farthest corner of the garden on a bench writing in our journals. Heaven forbid we actually sit on the grass. We discovered a french phrase which goes something like, "please respect the grasses are sleeping" ie don't walk on the grass. And no one does EVER walk on grass in France. We think a form of cognitive dissonance happens early in life when french children try to walk on grass they are given such a yelling at that from that point on they fear the green stuff. Who knows.
Chevreny was also a lovely castle. More heavy and masuline in decor, lots of ancient weapons and armour and antlers of prehistoric creatures dotted the house. But the parks surrounding were vast and and shaded and very peaceful to stroll through. The best part was
Villandry
us in front of the castle the exhibit of Hergé's TinTin comic strips. The manor was the inspiritation for the Captain's House in the comic. The exhibition was lifesized drawings on TinTin and his antics mixed with fun interactive things to do: buttons to push, peep holes to peer through, machines to turn on and off. We purchased a children's book of french action verbs illutrated with portions of the comic, who knows maybe to teach out babies french?
One morning we picked up a lone American traveler at Breakfast, and she joined us for our days outing. Sophia from Chicago was very easy going and spoke French very well, so she was a nice asset to have along with us. We went first to the Villandry castle, which has the largest laid out gradens we witnessed, all done on the theme of love. From above the hedges and rows of flowers are laid out as hearts. Aftre that we headed to a tiny village where an Abbey is tucked into the wall of the street. In the front doors of the basillia is a quiet still vast space which holds very cold and ancient feeling air. Beneath the simple white unadorned arches and domes
Chevreny
floating on a sea of green lie the tombs of Henry I and Eleanor of Aquitane and Richard the Lionhearted. The rest of the abbeyis simple and elegant; the cloisters very lovely with their bird sculped bushes. All of us were inspired to silence as if we were nuns doing our daily routine in the silence of prayer. A moving experience.
Tonight we wandered through the packed streets of Tours Fete de la Musique, a little dizzy with the energy of the crowd as music poured from every corner, restaurant and bar. We quickly realized that in order to stake a claim and get to sit we had to grab a table in the sqare and plunk down a few euro for a drink, then the turf was ours for the rest of the night. We heard a girl folk singer who did a nice rendition of Blowin in the Wind, a fun upbeat ska band with a bright horn section, a pop band who reminded me a bit of U2, a few cover bands including a girl who did a rendition of "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix and I am sure she had no idea that the lyrics were about killing your woman for
cheating, from the sound of her pronunciation and upbeat delivery. All in all a fun evening.
Pictures will come as soon as I am at a comp I can upload off my camera, so be patient. Tommorow we travel to Bordeau. Bon Nuit!
Allison
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Lo Lo Mo
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Your pictures are beautiful! Keep em coming! Wow that castle seriously looks like it should be in disney world lol