Auberge du Port des Roches Luche-Pringe

... plants were predominantly yellow and orange. The Aromatic Garden had an enormous array of the healthiest herbs I have ever seen and the Vegetable Garden dates to the Middle Ages when the Abbey Monks preferred to lay out their vegetables in geometric shapes. Villandry was completed in 1536, the last of the great chateaux to be built on the banks of the Loire during the Renaissance period.

Also on the Thursday afternoon, we visited the Chateau D'Usse (C15-16 ...

Thank God for the GPS and the Audi s4!! This place is really nice... our room is austrian themed. We arrived and checked the place out, we had dinner at the hotel restaurant...the menu was in French so we had a fun time translating everything....I have un petite phrase book that really helps!! We also went down the road to the cellars (cave in french), and had a wine tasting and bought some wine. Tommorrow we are going to see some Chateaux!!!

Distance covered: 38.6 miles

So we cycled a mission and met up with Olly. He was all like "but i tried to find you guys". Thats nice, but we never did find where that slug went from the ceiling. Anyway after hugs and kisses we cycled to a MASSIVE shop and bought MASSIVE food. We then cycled to some woods (full of broken glass and litter) and ...

... visited my brother was on a mission to find castle with a hedge maze. As painful as this was the first castle hade a hedge maze but it was not good enough for him so every castle we went to we looked for a hedge maze which we finally found Chenonceaux Chateu. The castle stretches across the Loire River and has its own beach. The castle was huge and smelled of old people. As we were just about to leave Ben saw the sign that ...

... They had gun’s in the fourteen
hundreds. I liked it. I am not sure why but i don’t mind cramped underground spaces. In fact i quite like them.
Leonardo da Vinci’s house, was amazing. We saw all his scribbles in a notebook of his, we some his inventions in a framed model. But the garden was what was most amazing. In the garden they had life sized inventions ...

... call him Mr. Bean. : ) We end up in Solesmes about twenty minutes before the service begins. We browse the bookstore for a bit and then grab a seat. Leo, their 7 year old, is soooo cute. He becomes enthralled with the church experience. We are later told its his first time in a church ... and we all agree he is the spiritual one of the family. He was so intent on the standing and the sitting at the appropriate times ... and we all starting shaking with laughter when he mimicked ...

... Its great. Our arrival in to town is a bit early. the show doesn't start until 'nightfall' (per the website, http://www.lemansnights.com/ ). So we meander around a bit looking for a place to eat. As we walk, I see a place with the word 'billets' on the window. Tickets! "I bet they see a lot of tourists in there ...", I think to myself, and I stop in to ask what time we should expect the light show to start, and where we can get some good food nearby. ... Janice and I walk in ...

... so far; The Eiffel Tower, Chateu Chambord, Blois, Chenenao, Ambois, Lyon, Provence-Vaison du Romain & Rousett, Aix en provence, Avignon Amphetheatre, Casis on Cote d'Azure, bar atop a hill in a medieval town, The Lourve, Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Roman Ruins. Not all of these are within the pics in this email, but keep an eye out there's more to come. We're having an awesome time, as you can see. Al starting to feel surfing withdrawls, but not long ...

... few weeks. And all this for a very reasonable price - the package we had included accomodation, breakfast and the three course dinner formula. Though we had to pay for drinks, the hotel offers some really good wines at very moderate prices (half of the price at what you pay for these wines in normal restaurants). Highly recommend!

Castelos do Vale do Loire: - Château de Chambord (arquitetura renascentista francesa - Rei François I - construído entre 1519 e 1547 - escada dupla helicoidal de Leonardo Da Vinci). - Château de Cheverny (pertence aos descendentes da família de Hurault, desde o Século XIII). - Château de Chenonceau (também conhecido como Castelo das Sete Damas, erguido no Século XIII às margens do Rio Cher, habitado por Catarina de Médicis (1559).