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Vallée de la Loire, France

April 15th – 17th 2017 – This part of the valley around the Loire river is part of the UNESCO heritage, and for good reason, because it’s full of fancy castles (or château’s to be precise) in addition to beautiful cities and villages! It’s too many castles to see during an extended Easter weekend, but we tried our best!

On the first day we set off to Villandry, where they have not only a castle, but also some caves (which we did not miss, because it’s a family tradition at this point.) The Château de Villandry is a a beautiful little historical family residence with an even more beautiful decoration. The inside was filled with fancy artwork, while the outside gardens were filled with fancy shapes and patterns, in addition to all the flowers that were in the middle of their spring bloom. [photos 1-3] Right at closing time, we drove to the Château d’ Ussé to get a look at (and at least buy a postcard from) this castle with numerous spires that’s nicknamed “Sleeping Beauty’s Castle” because it has been said to be the castle that Charles Perrault had in mind while writing this story [4]. The day was finished off with a short stop in the rather cute (aka mignone) village of Langeais, which included walking through some tiny streets along with getting to see a smaller, yet majestic castle and cathedral. [5]

The plan for the second day, which happened to be Easter Sunday … and my birthday … was quite different, because we drove to the Château de Chanonceau just as the sun was shining down on one of the biggest crowds I’ve ever seen at a castle ( or at least that of the line to get inside the area). So we set of to the next one, which was Château de Chaumont, which might have been my favorite, because the castle walls with the spires on the top of the round towers were simply very aesthetic! [6] Plus there were a couple fancy rooms, such as the chapel, because Catherine de’ Medici, who was France’s queen at one point, resided at the castle. Afterwards, we drove back to the Château de Chenonceau, because we really wanted to see it, because parts of the castle are built over the river as a giant bridge. You should definitely google it, because that’s what had to do since the crowds only got worse and the castle was strategically hidden behind trees. So afterwards we drove to Amboise, which is a lovely little town with a castle on the top that provides a great view of the town’s rooftops and the river. [7-9] And of course, I can’t forget to mention the little chapel of Saint-Hubert, where Leonardo Da Vinci was buried after finishing his life in Amboise.  It makes sense that it was here, since Da Vinci was a guest of one of the numerous French Kings, for whom the Château d’Amboise was a residence. Apparently Charles VIII died in this castle after hitting his head on a door lintel (which I can personally as a tall person relate to very easily). Since the day didn’t go as planned, we also took an evening walk around the city of Tours, which was where we were staying for the weekend.

Then on the last day, before heading back home, we stopped at the Château de Chambord, which simply put, is absolutely magnificient! And not just because of the surrounding grounds (originally used as hunting grounds since this was a “hunting lodge”) and the water canal right in front of the castle (which is still cool, because you rent a boat and go on them), but because of the mix of the renaissance and medieval architecture. [10] This of course in addition to some fancy interior and rich history. And then, the very final stop of the trip was the city of Orleans, which still looks so beautifully historic, almost appearing untouched from the days of Joann of Arc! The gigantic cathedral there was absolutely breathtaking, just like the rest of the trip to this heart of France!