Day 8-10, Dordogne to Loire

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Day 8,
Today did not exactly turn out as planned, yet was still great. We were to go canoeing today, but with all the rain lately in France, the rivers are running at flood stage and we could not do that. So the day started with a visit to Sarlat. Sarlat is a great little town with some great cobbled streets and medieval buildings. A rather large group of us followed a walking tour from the Rick Steves guide book and had a great little walk. The region is known for Goose Liver and Walnuts. At the market several of the girls flirted a free bag of walnuts from the nice french man, I had no such luck, so had to buy mine. We then traveled to the Dordogne river and it is flowing very high and fast. not safe for a canoe float. we did manage to get an hour long boat ride on the river, but it was a bit rainy and cold so it was not as nice as it could have been. then we went to the city of Beynac. A fabulous city on a cliff on the edge of the mountain. Most of us climbed the very steep hill to the castle and enjoyed exploring the old fortress. we then made our way back to our hotel.

Day 9,
Today was our big transfer day. so far we have not had too many big bus rides. the one longer one we had was because we got a bit lost, but today was just a big transfer day. We did stop in a lovely city called Poitiers. it was a much nicer city then I thought it might be and we had a nice 3 hour lunch break. The city has different colored lines on the street and each line is a different walking tour, so many of us explored the city via a blue line along the sidewalk. it took us past several old churches and on giant cathedral. After lunch we drove on to Chinnon. Another amazing little french city with a nice castle on the hill. Our hotel is right in the city so tonight we enjoyed walking along the river taking photos of the sunset and the castle. (we actually saw the sun for a moment) Tomorrow the Loire river Chateau. can't wait.

Day 10
Today was a very nice day visiting the chateau of the Loire valley. First we visited Chateau de Chenonceau. It was built in the 1500s and spans the River Cher. It is one of the most visited chateau and after several days in rural and less visited France, it was a bit different being in such a popular place. The place is awesome and we had about 3 hours to explore and visit the Chateau and the surrounding gardens. There was even a hedge maze, although it was not very difficult to find the center, but it was fun to walk around. The rest of the gardens are amazing and we had a great time. We then drove up the river a bit to Chambord. Chateau du Chambord is the largest chateau in the Loire. It has 427 rooms and was built as a hunting lodge. One of the highlights was chasing each other up the double spiral staircase. What a place. After our 2.5 hr visit, we headed back to our home base of Chinnon. Awesome day in the Loire valley. Tomorrow off to the coast bright and early at 7:00 AM.
That is all for now.
Scott

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Comments

[Matt Stockwell]

Thanks for the updates Scott, looks and sounds like you're having a blast - is Kayla wishing she brought the rain jacket I recommended? Ciao!