H''Tel Le Choiseul Amboise

... of France after the revolution, but he insisted on being crowned under the King colors rather than the tricolor of the revolution. As a result Napoleon stepped up to the plate and took the prize from under his nose. In more recent history the chateau was used to hide and store much of the Lourve's art work during WWII. <br><br> Words can't describe all that we saw in the Loire Valley so we hope our photos help.<br><br> Goodbye Loire Valley, hello Dordogne here we come!

Awoke to blue skies - yippeee - as it was forecasted for more rain. We set off to Blois chateau first thing. We never really intended to come to Blois but it was part of our multi-entry ticket. Blois is all about the architecture, however the state apartments were ...

Next stop Cheverney. This chateaux had less of a grand opening as it was able to be seen from the road, however the size of the grounds impressed. One would not have guessed what lay inside. We were wowed by Chenonceau but by Chevereny we were blown away. The detail of the rooms were simply overwhelming and at times hard to take it all in...just check out the photos we have uploaded on this page.

... that straddles the River Cher and is surrounded by gardens which even though its late October are still stunning. Inside over 3 floors we take in the places beauty - all of the rooms werer specatuarly painted withj deep blues, green and gold finishes, fine tapestries hang down the ceilings, large oil paintings litter the walls, period furniture gives us an insight into the life of its inhabitants over the years. This chateau wowed us!<br>

... in Blois itselfin the morning before taking a public bus out to Chambord Castle. Both had extravagent hallsand helix staircases (Chambord had a double helix staircase, thought to be designed by da Vinci). Both had chapels on site and bedrooms with large canopy beds and elaborate designs on the walls and ceilings. Chambord had 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces (extremely large- Steve could walk right in- and there were fireplaces opposite each other in every ...

... even better. Chatting with Pierre-Henri, I mentioned that normally I don't bother with breakfast back home, maybe some yogurt or a muffin on the run. Pierre-Henri's response was "Non! You must take the time and enjoy your breakfast, this is very important!" I like how the French view life, and more importantly, food :) I told him how much I loved his garden and his place, and how I felt like I was sleeping in a castle. <br><br>Sarlat ... I love this place. It's ...

... to Dover castle and wartime tunnels. We had a little workout while we were there because they had no where to put our backpacks, so we liked the hills for about three hours with our beasts on our back and then hiked to the ferry at the bottom of the cliff. Then the fun started... We arrived at the train station with plenty of time to cTch our train that arrived on our next destination (bayeux, Normandy) at 11pm... The problem was that this ...

... houses extend back into the hillside and all you could see was the front door, a few windows and a chimney. They really are quite incredible. We so badly wanted to be able to go inside one and look around but had to make do with staring through curtained windows when we thought no one was home. Dinner was at a little restaurant in town which looked great from the street but was a little disappointing once we got our food. We haven't had too many misses ...