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Published: February 9th 2006
Chenenceau 1
This is Chenenceau from the front. The Castle actually had the best grounds out of all of them. You'll see this laterLoire Valley Castles
As I leave tomorrow for our Ireland/Scotland/England vacation, I wanted to update this with my pictures from this past weekend!!
So we boarded the bus at 7:45am (you can imagine my excitement at 7:45am) - but in French time, it was more like 8:15am before we got moving. The weekend would be usually half an hour behind when we were to be doing things. Anyways, it would be a 4 hour drive to our first destination:
Chenenceau. I spent most of the ride there chatting it up or listening to my music and staring out the window. We were also given a movie to watch - it kept me from sleeping.
We got to Chenenceau around 12:30pm or so and toured around for 2 hours. I won't go into describing the Castle considering I have pictures here that can do a much better job of that! But I'll say that it was my second favourite of the weekend!
From there, we drove about an hour to our next destination:
Amboise. This Castle is actually in the middle of the city and is a bit smaller than Chenenceau. But a tidbit of info about Amboise.
Chenenceau 2
Chenenceau from the back. You can see the gardens here. And this is in the winter. I can imagine how they'll be in the summer! Leonardo Da Vinci is actually buried there. He loved the Castle and decided to be buried in the Church in the courtyard. I walked around inside and outside and since it's smaller, had a lot more time to take some really great pictures of the city and the Castle itself.
We went from Amboise to a winery where we tasted a few wines and students bought what they thought they could drink that night - I didn't not buy any. We had an early morning again the next morning and knew that getting drunk would not work well with my wake-up. But the night was still tons of fun as others drank and we all danced and played ping-pong and foosball. Went to bed around 1:30am and alarms were set for 8:45am for breakfast.
No showers, not as much sleep as needed, but a breakfast that filled me up, we were off to our next Castle:
Blois. This Castle was a bit different than the others in its architecture as it has been described as "flamboyant". You'll see it in the pictures. After the Castle, we had 2 hours for lunch (because the French take two hour lunches
Chenenceau 3
A drawbridge! I enjoy drawbridges! every day), so Andrea, Allison and I headed out to a pizza place in town to grab lunch. A few other International students came in so the restaurant owner commented (in French! - But I understood it!!) that there's a lot of us here and how we should just hire out the restaurant!
After lunch, we were off again to the bus and got to our last Castle:
Chambord. All I can say is: WOW. It's my favourite by far. You'll see by the pictures. I claimed a tower as mine because I like towers! Andrea, Allison and I walked around for an hour or so... It's a lot bigger than any of the others, so the hour was spent inside. I bought a postcard afterwards as well. The Castle was actually used as a hunting place back in the day - and still actually is. I was afraid to leave the building vascinity in fear of being shot!
After Chambord, we headed back on the bus and went home! I had good conversations with those around me - Hannah and Erin in the seats on the opposite side of the aisle; Allison and Andrea in the ones
Chenenceau 4
Here's a better view of the gardens in front of them; Lindsay (from Laurier) and Jessica in front of me; and Steven beside me! That was generally how it was for the whole trip - aside from the way there when I had the seat to myself aside from the lone French student who would sit there every once in a while. So all in all, I had a great weekend! On to the pictures!
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The cZetyrboks
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Terrific
Now that we know about your blog, we'll follow your trip with interest. Your Auntie Pat learned about the site from your Mom when they met today at Alison's Wedding Shower. Be safe, have fun and then more fun!