Central Montargis

... friend Amira, saying that her alarm went off. Luckily our resident director was cool, and we waited for her, and then we were off in our large, tour-sized bus. It's actually quite humorous when you think about it that 9 people get this huge bus to ourselves. It was definitely spacious. 
The first chateau we saw was Fontainebleau (pronounced FontainBlow. Not FontaineBlue). We got out of the bus, and of course it started ...

... old churches-lovely to hear their tolling bells. Fields of sunflowers. I could go on and on....(yes, thats enough - Ed).
By now, it's getting quite late in the afternoon. Too much oohing and aahing going on and not enough attention to looking for campsites. Ardent campers swear there are camping signs everywhere but where are they when The Cables need one.
It's after 6pm now so we stop in a little village and ...

... so I had two beers (Leffe Blonde), and they were absolute *****. I was so thirsty, I drank one and a bit, but I couldn’t drink the second one to the end. Even Rochelle hated it. The ice-cream was bad, but not inedible (Rochelle says the sorbet was fine, so there you go). Lovely pictures, though.

We had a beautiful dinner across the road, including a home-made raisin mustard, which the waiter was very proud of.

So we decided to head off to Fountainebleau to visit the grand chateau in that city. We had such a difficult time figuring out the appropriate line to wait in for tickets to this particular town, and that delayed our commute to the extent that we almost gave up on the trip, entirely! I am so glad we did not, however, because the palace was a delight! This palace was much smaller than both ...

... right at the gates and is an absolute must if you intend to take some pictures, which you will definitely do. Then, from Chambord, there are another 6,5 km to Bracieux a very cute place with some excellent (not cheap) restaurants, attractive possibilities for photographers if the period between noon and 4 p.m. is skipped. There are only 9,5 km. to Cheverny although these will not be as flat as the ...

While Lou and I were in Ireland, we received news that Chris and Kelly, our friends from the December roatrip, had their baby. Clara Christine Rosati was welcomed into the world on Wed, August 23rd. We were so thrilled to hear the news, so for our "French" Labor Day, we spent the weekend in Orleans, visiting the new bundle of joy. While we were there, the village where Chris and Kelly live had a festival with live music, a carnival and some fireworks. Take a look at the pictures!

Eelnevalt olime oma teekonda miskipärast ka ära märkinud sellise koha nagu Montargis. Kohapeale jõudes ei meenunud aga kummalegi põhjus, mida me sealt otsisime. Kuna seal oli mitmeid chocolaterie'sid, siis otsustasime, et järelikult need olidki põhjuseks. Mitte, et me sealt mitmekümne euroseid šokolaade oleks soovinud osta! Cappuccino vahukoorega läks õigesse kohta see-eest.

28th Dec 2005 / 1st Jan 2006 As soon as we get started on our trip, the first change in our itinerary occurs: thanks to United Airlines, we have been stranded for 1 day on Chicago! Well, we then have enjoyed a nice day in the windy city, and we even had tine enough to shop for our wedding! We finally ...

Chartres is only 20 min south of Paris. What is there to see? Other than a photo supply store and some cheap shopping, the only thing in this town worth the visit is the Chartres Cathedral and it's crypt. The cathedral is known all over the world for it's stained glass windows. The windows survived both WWI and WWII, unlike many of the statues inside and jambs on the outside of the building. If you look closely at all the sculptures, you will ...

... get too burned out...qfter thqt we drove on to the giens area which we were told is fqmous for china warewe spent an hour or so admiring an aquuaduce bridge built by eifel to cross the loire...the pictures do it far more justice...that evening we again ate and drank to our hearts content at the courtois household... pictures of these two days are here