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| Wheatfields next door to our cottage near St. Senoch |
On Saturday, June 13th, we drove from Les Eyzies to a
cottage near St. Senoch just south of Loches in the Loire Valley. Our
cottage (rented through VRBO) was very cute and clean it was the perfect
size for us. It was in the middle of the wheatfields in the middle of
the farming community there - with lovely vistas in all directions. We
arrived on a beautiful sunny day, then a thunderstorm rolled in that
night with thunder and lightning. Quite dramatic after days of
exhausting 95 degree heat.
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| Our cozy bedroom |
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| Living room |
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| Back door covered in roses |
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| Thundershowers were approaching our cottage quickly that evening! |
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| The perfect kitchen - light/bright and well-equipped |
The next day, even though it was a bit rainy, we visited Azay le Rideau - the chateau that is reported to have been used as the model for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty castle. The grounds were lovely and a number of rooms had been decorated using the original medieval techniques for weavings and upholstery. Part of the chateau exterior was covered, for construction, in order to repair the damage due to weathering (over 600 +/- years). We figured that was a good idea...
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| Roses were in bloom everywhere |
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| Heading to the chateau |
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| A quiet place for contemplation |
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| Lake surrounding the chateau |
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| Tapestries covered the walls |
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| Luxurious bed - drapes were closed for warmth. |
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| Chateau exterior - part of which was being repaired from years of wear |
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| Captivating face on a fountain |
On Monday, we drove into Tours to drop Val off at the TGV station so that she could continue on to Paris where she would spend two more days touring. We would miss her for the rest of the trip, she was such a great travel partner!
On Tuesday, we met our friends, Chloe and Joe for lunch in the town of Villandry (famous for its chateau). It was wonderful sharing stories and laughing about all that we have seen. It was great just spending a lovely afternoon with friends! They have helped us so much with their advice on this trip!
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| Good friends, good wine, good food - can it get any better? |
After lunch, we toured the chateau at Villandry, famous for its charming furnishings and lovely gardens. The chateau is still owned and lived in, as the numerous photos placed everywhere demonstrated. It felt very warm and inviting.
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| Beautiful gardens at the chateau |
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| Villandry vista |
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| Garden pallet in yellow and blue |
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| The kitchen garden - Villandry |
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| Lettuce surrounded by boxwood - kitchen garden |
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| Fresh flowers were placed everywhere in the chateau |
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| Boxwood geometrics garden |
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| Topiary magic |
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| More lettuce - red, romaine, etc - a red and green pallet. |
Following our visit to Villandry, we drove over to view the Usse chateau - within 20 minutes of there. This chateau is in definite need of exterior repair - as can easily be expected, due to its age. So we chose not to do the regular tour there. What a burden it must be to own one of these beautiful places and to try and maintain it well! How do you attract the tourist Euro when there are so many other beautiful chateaus all over France?
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| The Usse chateau - huge and in definite need of exterior repair |
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| Usse chapel |
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| The spectacular Chenonceaux! There is a reason for its popularity |
On Thursday, our final day in the Loire Valley we decided to visit Chateau Chenonceaux - the most famous and popular of all the chateaus in the Loire Valley - famous not only for its beauty and size, but for its history and the beautiful women who owned and lived in it (e.g. Diane de Poitiers and Catherine Medici, among others). We braced ourselves to prepare for the horrendous crowds and lines that we had been warned about...but they never materialized. It was a gorgeous day and there were few tourists there. It was well worth the visit! The chateau is absolutely gorgeous - and deserves its popularity, not only for its furnishings, but also for the massive gardens there. We were impressed!
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| The grand lady! |
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| Chapel stained glass windows |
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| The grand ballroom which spans the river Cher - envisioned by Diane de Poitiers and executed by Catherine de Medici |
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| View of the Cher river from the grand ballroom |
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| Beautiful flower arrangements were provided in each room |
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| Copper, copper everywhere |
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| One of the many bedrooms - an earlier styled bed with the drapes |
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| The bridge across the river |
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| Ernie looks like he belongs here! |
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| The country farm community within the grounds of the chateau |
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| Roses and veges |
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| Boxwood maze - great fun for kids - who can be the first in and the first out! |
On Friday, we packed up and drove down toward Carcassonne in the Languedoc - Roussillon area - to the little town of Caunes Minervois - where we planned to stay for the final month of our trip. Our next blog will tell you more about those adventures.
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