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Published: February 7th 2010
Today was a pretty rainy day, which was disappointing because we went to Chenonceau which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful castles in France because it’s built on a river. It was beautiful, but the water was kind of gross and murky from the rain, which made the castle not look quite as cool. Also the huge front section of the castle is currently being restored and has scaffolding with this huge curtain over it with a picture of what the castle should look like—kind of hilarious, but also kind of disappointing.
That being said, I still loved Chenonceau. I want to go back some time, when there are more flowers in the garden and when it’s a beautiful day. The inside of the castle was cool—we didn’t have a personal tour, but we got audioguides—Ipod audioguides! As in they just had a ton of ipods hanging out with, and you could choose your language and how long of a tour you want, then select the room you’re in and it will show you pictures of the things it’s talking about! So crazy! The history behind the castle was cool too—Henry II lived there I believe (one
of the people right under him built it) and his wife, Catherine de Medici and his favorite mistress, Diane something-or-other both lived there with him. Then he gave the chateau to Diane, but after he died, Catherine took the chateau back from Diane, giving her a different (less cool one) in exchange. Now Catherine’s picture looms in Diane’s bedroom above the mantel.
I’ll try to do more details under on the captions of the pictures.
Luckily by the time we were done with our iPod audioguided tour, the rain had gone from steady rain to just sprinkling, so we wandered the gardens a bit and found a maze/labyrinth to amuse ourselves with.
Next we went to Blois where we had some paninis for lunch (seems to be the most economical choice…) and saw the chateau there, which was really pretty on the outside, but inside was fairly unremarkable. That was mainly Francois I’s stomping grounds.
Then we went to a chocolaterie! We watched a movie on how chocolate was made—there has to be 1,000 flowers on a cocoa tree to make one cocoa pod, and then inside this pod is where the beans are—and they’re gross.
I didn’t see any real ones, they’re always dried before the come to France (slash leave wherever they come from on the Equator) but when a pod is cracked open, there are all these gross white slimy things, which I guess eventually turn into cocoa beans.
It was a successful trip because I bought a large milk chocolate bar (I don’t care if they don’t consider that realllll chocolate. I’m just not a dark chocolate person).
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Mom
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Chenonceau & Blois
Sounds like you're getting a long list of sights to go back to when the weather is better! Great photos--especially the one with you on the royal throne!