Chateau De Danzay Chateaux & Hotels De France Chinon

... is a parasite that grows on other trees and they are really easy to see in the winter because all the leaves have fallen off. I thought it was pretty cool so the whole way to tours I looked for mistletoe trees. I found lots and took some pictures.

France isn’t big on lighting up their roads and boy does it get dark at night. After almost driving off ...

... 1099; пасси 74;но). Конеч 85;о, без этих вещей можно жить – больш 80;нство так и делае 90;. Но каждо ...

... guys in the group remarked, "I can see why the king liked her." When Henri II died, his widow, Catherine de Medicis, turned up at Chenonceau and kicked Diane out. Catherine's sour-faced portrait now hangs in Diane's former bedroom.

There was a maze on the grounds of the chateau, so I walked through that. Disappointingly, it was too easy, and I was in and out in about two minutes. So I walked over to the vegetable garden (I know!) and wandered around there for a bit ...

... from Italy, one of which was the Mona Lisa.

We arrived at Chambord (pronounced "shahm-borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrr"), which is the biggest castle in France, even bigger than Versailles. It was built as a hunting lodge for Francois, but in the end he only spent 72 days there. He never even got to use all 365 fireplaces! There are 440 rooms, but tourists are only allowed in one particular wing and the roof. There is a famous double-helix staircase ...

I took a day trip into Tours, which is the biggest city around here. It's a pretty amazing places, I still have a lot of exploring to do here yet, but I wanted to post some pictures of my first trip that I took into Tour alone.

Enjoy

... of the French countryside with some English folks (Amanda, her daughter Alexandra, and Amanda's mother-in-law Jan) renovating their house; they earned their room and board by assisting in the renovation, laying tile. When I was hanging out with the two of them in La Cinque Terre, they were raving on and on for a good long while about what amazing people the folks they stayed with are. As it happens, they told ...

We spent our last ten days of travel at the family farmhouse in Coussay, reunited with the French family and introduced to the brand new and shiny swimming pool which was constructed whilst we were away. I managed to try the swimming pool 2 minutes after arriving, and we managed to ...

... only design by the master himself... Leonardo. Fantastic piece of work. At the end of the day we are all enjoying the visit but I think the kids have had enough and it is time to move on to bigger and better things. Paris is waiting for us. I don't think I will enjoy the trip as much as the family because driving in Paris is as easy as riding a bike in Venice. I just hope my luck does not run out and I can get there without a crash.

... town of Chinon including the Vienne River and the medieval quarter with its ancient houses.  The Chateau de Chinon is perched high above the town and is mostly ruined although extensive restoration is in progress - so much so, that I am glad I got to see it now before it looks completely new.

In the old town there is a plaque depicting where "Miss of Arc" stepped off her horse onto a lump of concrete (apparently she was very short).  After a short refreshment stop at Place Hofheim ...

... cliff above, exudes charm in every silver stone and medieval timber of its buildings and streets, I couldn't help but shake the feeling that an invisible "Privee" sign had been hung above the town. After our five-hour journey from Biarritz on whimsical back roads of France, we made it to Chinon at dinner time: 9:00 pm. After some eager recommendations from our French hotel hosts, we set out for our now-customary restaurant search. The narrow streets of ...