Loire Valley - jusqu'à ce que nous nous réunissons à nouveau*

In my last post I wrote about our first few days in France, which we spent in Paris. Our next stop was the Loire Valley, or better known to us as Chateau Country. 

Trip Overview

Travel > France

Paris - 2 days
Loire Valley - 3 Days
Normandy Region - 3 Days

Travel > Home

Loire Valley - Day 4

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

As I mentioned in my Plan for the Worst, Hope for the Best post, the previous evening was an eventful one. Tom and Margot came back from the children's hospital around 5 in the morning and we all crashed until it was time to check out of the hotel. Then Tom and I divided and conquered. He picked up the rental car while I packed. It was just our luck that the street in front of our hotel was blocked that day and Tom couldn't get the car close. The hotel staff did help me move our stuff out of the room by noon. Then Tom and I ferried the girls and our stuff to the car. It was a crazy morning, but finally we were on the road to meet Tom's brother, Danny, and sister-in-law, Christine, in Chartres.

We parked at the bottom of town, then walked up to see the Chartres Cathedral and meet Danny and Christine. The cathedral is beautiful, but I think we all had food on our mind! Our next stop was a cafe where the girls ate sandwiches I made and Tom and I finally had a cup of coffee and French onion soup.

After that we drove to Amboise, which is situated on the banks of the Loire River. We had plans to stay there for three nights and checked into a third floor apartment in an old, grand house next to the wall of Chateau d'Amboise. It was fantastic! Beautiful views of the chateau, three huge bedrooms (although the girls ended up staying in our room), two bathrooms, laundry, a nice living space, toys and a kitchen. It was the perfect set up.

After checking in, Tom and I divided and conquered again. He and Margot picked up her prescription while Isabelle and I went to Aldi to stock up on safe food. Then I made the girls dinner and Christine made the adults dinner. We all slept really well that night.

Outside the Chartres Cathedral

The view from our bedroom in Amboise

Loire Valley - Day 5
Thursday October 22, 2015

Before we left for the day, I walked to a different grocery store to pick up a few more supplies. Translating nutrition labels is a new skill of mine! I admit I was probably there for awhile! Then we made to-go lunches for the girls and headed off to see the first chateau - Chateau de Chenonceau. It was breathtaking! There was a roaring fire in the guard room, a tiny chior loft in the chapel and a
beautiful kitchen that had a bridge to connect one end to the other. The girls loved seeing where real princesses lived and dancing in the ballroom that was built over the river. The gardens were really nice, but it was hard to keep the girls off the grass - there were Keep Off the Grass signs everywhere. The carp in the pond made up for it. They were huge and jumped out of the water at us! After seeing the chateau, the girls each picked out a princess to take home. Tom and I got a poster that I can't wait to frame.

We all ate a quick lunch in the car and then went to the next chateau - Chateau de Chambord. This chateau has over 400 room, 80 that you can go in. It also has 365 fireplaces! There are spectacular views from the roof of the chateau. My favorite though was watching the girls play with their new princesses in the chateau. They were having a ball (literally)! We saw a lot and by the time we left both girls were ready to go back to the apartment. So we grabbed McDonald's and headed home to eat. After dinner I popped out with Danny and Christine to taste test a few different bottles of wine and brought home a delicious white from Chateau de Chenonceau. Tom and I opened it after we made lunches for the next day. It was delicious!

Chateau de Chenonceau

Watch out for the carp!

On the roof of Chateau de Chambord

Playing princesses

Loire Valley - Day 6
Friday, October 23, 2015

Our first stop was to visit Leonardo da Vinci's home in Amboise, which had a lot of interesting models of his inventions and replicas of his paintings. The best part was the garden that had life-size models for the kids and adults to explore and a playground with plenty of room to run around. I would highly recommend visiting! We also went to Chateau de Villandry for lunch (I brought food for the girls and the adults ordered off the menu) and wandered the beautiful gardens. This was another great place for the girls to burn some energy. We actually never made it inside the chateau because the gardens were so spectacular. Our last stop of the day was Chateau d'Amboise.  We did go in this one and it was also beautiful with excellent views! We could even see the home we were staying at. It was getting late, so Tom left to get McDonald's. The girls and I ate together while Tom, Danny and Christine went out for a nice meal later. I insisted Tom join them! I enjoyed a glass of wine and a good book.

Seeing Mona Lisa at Leonardo da Vinci's home - much larger than the real thing! 

Testing out some of Leonardo's inventions

Checking out one of Lenoardo's inventions

Exploring the gardens of Chateau Villandry

Exploring the gardens of Chateau Villandry

Exploring the gardens of Chateau Villandry

Exploring Chateau Amboise

The home we stayed at is right in the middle of the photo

Margot loved taking "pictures" of the chateaus!

By the way, are you wondering why we kept going to McDonald's? It was the only restaurant we knew would be truly safe. In France we would use the electronic ordering system which listed all of the ingredients and allergens. Bonus, their Happy Meals came with hardcover books and the girls always ate the food. It was a win-win for us.

*jusqu'à ce que nous nous réunissons à nouveau means until we meet again