Hotel Clair Cottage Chenonceaux

... but when I do, I get sucked into listening boring things like "Look how exquisite the coffee table's legs are ..." ... zzzzz .... I was short on time, so I figured the audio guide would be a good way of organizing everything so that I could efficiently tour the chateau. Wrong!

The chateau wasn't as picturesque as the postcards would suggest, but it was an overcast day, and there were some renovations taking place. The interior was nothing special, and ...

 Today we'll visit chateau Chenonceau.
It's just a couple blocks from our hotel.


 
 
 
 
< br>  In 1547 King Henry the II gave this Chateau to his mistress, Diane.  
For some reason, his wife, Catherine de Medici, wasn't down with that. 

... or third most visited French palace/castle after Versailles. Around 5pm, we jump back in the car and drive towards home with the plan to stop and eat somewhere along the way (the food at Chenonceau was too dang expensive!). Ooh, small detail here I forgot to tell in a previous blog entry. I took a photo of our car, ... if you notice, the last two digits of the license plate are a bit set off from the rest. Thats because these two numbers tell you were the car is ...

... comunica intre ele si sunt doar asa, de kiki, sa ai poteci de batut. Si nu o data m-am gandit ca totusi era destul de complicat sa traiesti in tot fastul, maretia si chiar opulenta aceea fara niste conditii minime de confort. Gradinile castelelor sunt in general impartite in trei categorii: ornamentale, culinare si medicinale. Fiecare castel se lauda si pune accent pe gradinile sale la fel de mult ca pe ambianta si pe operele de arta. Foarte interesant ni s-a parut ca ...

tickets: done passport: done flat: done customs: done change: done insurance:done testament:done Ok! everything is supposed to go well... Premier billet de ce carnet de voyage. Mon avion part le 9 au soir. J'avoue: je compte les jours. First ...

... room, gold leaf covering massive ceiling decorative artworks, carvings and artworks throughout the whole palace, and beautifully manicured gardens (including canals) that are about the size of Kings Park! After roaming around Versailles for 2-3 hours, we went off to Giverny which is what we were more interested in. Giverny is where Monet lived, painted and built his gardens including the pond ...

... to be.  "And since the Sun is the emblem of the King, seven planets were taken to serve as the subject of the paintings of the seven salons of this apartment" (Félibien des Avaux, 1674).  These apartments included the salons of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Diana, and Apollo which were all dedicated to a heavenly body.  But as we entered the first salon, we ...

We woke up slightly later than usual this morning, but luckily in time to catch the end of the Bastille Day Parade on TV in the hotel lobby...OOPS. We had planned on going, but it didn't look like we missed too much! We were really excited about tonight's events - an open air concert and fireworks show on the lawn behind the Eiffel Tower. We packed our backpack full of picnic gear and headed to the corner market to pick up some wine, fruits, and snacks. We ...

... finally managed to get in touch with my cousin's friends and watched more futbol with them, being in paris when the french nat'l team defeats brazil....well that was pretty damn spectacular. . . you could pretty much hear a unified cheer rise from the entire city at the same time....the city (and i'm sure the country) was insane -- every car blaring music and horns honking nonstop...it was quite the experience.

Time flies... Already December, Paris even under the rain is magical. This is my last stop before I fly back to Colorado. Nathalie is going to spend Christmas with her family and she had to finish out some final details with her student visa. We are staying with Christelle, one of Nathalie's friends that lives in Versailles, 15 minutes train ride from Paris downtown. We did a lot of sightseeing but there is ...