Travelin' Tuesday - La Vallee de la Loire (France - duh!)

So the ONLY day of school that we skipped while in studying in Paris, we went to the Loire Valley on a bus tour to 3 different castles (or château en français!). They were really pretty! My favorite thing about seeing castles is 1) the gardens & 2) how it's decorated inside. If you're like me, then you can probably skip the Loire Valley tour - sad, I know. The castles were pretty & the gardens weren't bad, but the decorations inside were lacking to say the least. The last castle we visited had never even been lived in, so there was NOTHING inside. Come on! If you're going to see a castle in France, go to Versailles! Of course, I'll post about Versailles later. These castles were still beautiful though, so read on!

We booked with Viator again because we enjoyed our tour in England so much. The three castles on the list were Chenonceau, Cheverny, & Chambord (beautiful names!)

Chenonceau was first & my favorite. Wouldn't this be a great drive to come home to?

The picture I took of the outside does not do it justice, so here is one I didn't take!

So beautiful! This is actually the back side of the castle. Here is a picture from the front. Not quite as impressive, especially with all the people in the picture, but still. The fact that this castle is over the river is what makes it great.

My favorite part about this castle was the garden outside. SO PRETTY! We came at a great time too (June) because everything was in bloom.

The gardens were built by another of the female owners of this castle, Diane de Poitiers. The castle was given to her as a gift by Henry II because she was one of his mistresses...scandal! The gardens are just beautiful! Not very extensive because the area to build isn't very big, but she did a good job with the planning.

A little history behind the castle: over the years it has belonged to many different people of nobility. During the French Revolution, it was saved from destruction because it was the only way to cross the River Cher. When it was first built, it didn't connect to the opposite bank, but one of the women who lived in the chateau at one point (smart lady!) decided to connect the castle to both sides of the river.

On the tour, we stopped in a little town & had some lunch. Isn't it adorable?

Next, we went to Cheverny. The coolest thing about this castle was - get this - people still LIVE there! How amazing would that be? The family lives on the top floor and the rest is open to the public. This castle sits on a lot of land, but the garden section is small. There is a greenhouse behind the castle, but it's nothing special. Here is Cheverny from the front & back:

This castle also has a pack of about 70 hunting dogs that live on the grounds. They are taken for hunts about twice a week! I haven't ever seen so many dogs all in one place!

This castle & the previous one had a little to see inside. I thought this room was really pretty, especially the detail on the beams on the ceiling! And the armor was nice because it's something the boys can get excited about. I mean, let's be honest, a castle tour doesn't really scream MAN DAY. The collection of armor was pretty extensive & everything was out for all to see!

This is the "garden." BOOOOO. There is SO MUCH land in the front "yard" of this chateau I just wanted to start planting flowers everywhere! But alas, the picture with the tiny fountain is all there is, & it's behind the castle. 

This is the land to the front

And it extends a lot more to the right. I guess the groundskeeper has enough to handle with just the grass! Next time I go, I'll put "garden" in the suggestion box. Moving on...

Then we came to the famous Chateau de Chambord. Collective sigh after you see this picture (that I, surprise, didn't take):

OMG I know. So gorgeous!!! It was built by King François I to be close to his favorite mistress the Comtesse de Thoury. Romantic? Hm. After the construction was complete, François spent a total of...drumroll please...seven weeks there. And not even all at the same time! WEEKS! Ugh. He had 2 other chateaus, so this one was just used for occasional hunting trips seeing as something happened while this was being built & the Comtesse was no longer his mistress! Another scandal! 

The picture above is how we drove up to the castle, but to get inside we had to go around to the "back." Here is what it looked like

We got to go explore all along the top of the castle outside. The architecture is really beautiful!!

There was really NOTHING by way of decorations inside this castle & no garden. One neat thing inside though was a double helix staircase designed by DeVinci. I really couldn't figure it out! It seems so simple, but it's very tricky. 

The stairs are intertwined with each other, & there are windows every so often so you can see the person on the other stairs and wonder - how is this happening!? Haha. We got this great picture while playing on the stairs

Overall, the tour was fun but not like I had expected. Like I said before, after seeing Versailles nothing can ever be as wonderful! The gardens, & castle, & grounds OH MY! But after visiting France so many times, the Loire Valley was on my list for sure, & I'm glad I can now check it off :) 

**Travel Tip: This is the bus we took (yay America! I'm pointing to the American flag)

As you can see the windows are big all around, but if you get on FIRST, the windows at the front of the top of the bus are amazing! You can see all around you with nothing blocking your view in any direction. Get there early!