Eurotrip

So my friends and I were talking over tea back when it was cold and grey in Lyon, fantasizing about trips and warm weather, and we were thinking come spring we should rent a car and drive up to see the castles in the Loire valley. And then we (me, Nat, Angela, Brenna, and Paul) actually did it. And it was glorious.

We saw everything of interest on the way there and back and in the general vicinity of the castles: Vichy (where we took the curative, or weird-tasting, waters and experienced a creepily empty town), Orléans (sweet cathedrale, pretty downtown, Joan of Arc everywhere), Tours (fun squares, good resto, another cool cathedral where supposedly Angela's favorite saint is buried), and Bourges (best cathedrale ever, nice park, good pastries). We stayed in a cute hostel at what used to be a school in the town of Beaugency, where the five of us shared a room and bathroom all to ourselves, it was perfect. Despite some occasional nocturnal snores.

And then there were the castles. The first full day, Saturday, we went to Blois (Chateau Royal), then Chambord, then Cheverny. They all had their moments, but my favorite was Chambord, with its amazing double helix double staircases, 440 rooms, and incredible rooftop terraces. Blois was cool because it had lots of different parts, and each had a different architectural history and style. Cheverny was cool because the family of ONE OF OUR FRIENDS USED TO OWN THIS CASTLE. In the craziness that was the French Revolution, they were forced to give it up, and now another family owns it, but still, pretty damn awesome. (ah, les anciens aristos.) Now the family is known for their 80 dog hunting pack, whose daily feeding you can watch at 5pm. Clearly, we did, and it was intense. For those of us who are used to dogs as spoiled suburban pets, these were almost an entirely different animal, but the hounds were beautiful and impeccably trained. And hungry. It was a busy day of chateaux, but some strangely Frenchified TexMex restored us for the next day.

Sunday we went to Chenonceau (see photo), which was my very favorite castle, possibly because I so dearly loved all the kitchen stuff. That and the idea of a castle that spans a river is fantastic. It also had much more extensive grounds and gardens than all the others, including a labyrinth, a 16th century farm, a small wax museum, and a tulip garden. Last but not least, we went to Amboise, where we were surprised to discover the tomb of Leonardo DaVinci (designer of the amazing double helix stairs in Chambord). Apparently he loved France and died here. And somehow the French managed to keep his body. The castle was really interesting, much more what we think of when we think of castle, very high on a hill, huge walls looking down, well fortified, etc. We sat outside for quite a while on the manicured lawn, talking over our crazy tourist weekend, and agreed that road trips are the way to go. (especially when you have someone who is at least 25 to rent the car!)

I am working on the photo thing, but for now, I will just post one.
In other news, we had a great baby shower for Lizzy, who is due in just two weeks! Also, I leave this evening for the goat farm with Brenna, and can't wait to hopefully actually partake in the making of cheese this time, and maybe go to market and everything! Happy Easter to all!