Ibis Amboise

Our final chateau - Chambord. Everything about Chambord is done on a grand scale and on apporaching the chateau one is awe struck by the size, not only of the chateau but the grounds which cover 35sq kms! Inside has over 400 rooms, some bare conrete walls, some with renaissance art hanging on the walls and several had the full works - tapestries, furniture, frescos. <br><br>The history of the chateau was also very interesting as it was home to whom would have been next ...

... as they contained some lovely period furniture and frescos on the roofs and walls. 4 types of architcutre can be seen from standing in the centre court yard - flamboyant gothic, classical, early renaissance, and gothic. Our favourite was the renaissance wing. <br>

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.

From Amboise we had a short drive to Chenonceau where we keen toursits along with one tour group we there early and had to wait 10 minutes until the chateau opened for day. Once through the gates it was a lovely walk through the forest where the leaves were all changing colour - amber, yellow, red - so pretty. As we approach the end of the forest the chateau appears before us and its like stepping into a fairy tale. The chateau sat on ...

<br>(Whitney)<br> <br>We wanted to see some cool castles so we headed to Blois in the Loire Valley in France, abouttwo hours south of Paris. It took us ages to get from Bruges to Blois because we took a roundabout way of getting there to avoid paying high supplement fees on the fast TGV train. We arrived at our hotel around 8- we managed to find a cheap last minute hotel again which wasnice. We only had one day in the castle region so we toured through the ...

... amazing chateau second in splendor only to Versailles. It's an amazing castle built across the river (see the pictures), and after my 90-minute video i-pod tour of the joint, I'm pretty much an expert. It was definitely worth the trip, and I spent so much more time there than I thought I would that I wasn't able to go to Clos Luce, my second destination of the day. I did, however ...

... Andre and me. We strolled around the streets for a while and then headed up to the castle the overlooks the town and valley. The castle was interesting but quite small. A surprise to me was to find the tomb of Leonardo Da Vinci, who apparently died in Amboise. The highlight was the spectacular views over the whole valley - quite breathtaking. We spent quite a long time taking in all the different vantage points and realised the strategic ...

... streets and plenty of old houses. You would think we would have had our fill of these little towns after a month, but we haven't. We still find ourselves walking down the street, looking at houses built hundreds of years ago, that people still live in today. I know they have all the mod cons like broadband and plasma TVs inside, but it is just so far removed from what we are used to at home we find it quite amazing. We were more amazed as we walked ...

... Germans saw the Red Cross flag at the church, they noticed that German casualties were laying on the pews along with the paratroopers.  The church protected by the Red Cross remained a heaven of peace in the midst of battle.  In the church the medics tended the casualties of both sides without any difference.  One conition only was required:  weapons had to be left outside.  For three days the patients were treated on the pews of the church or were lying on the cold ...

... dogs are fed at 5:00 each day and there is a whole ritual of cleaning the kennel, laying out the food, bringing in the dogs, then allowing the dogs to eat. Seeing this is a highlight of a visit to Cheverny. After two days of heavy chateau touring, we had a nice change when we found an exhibition of Vouvray wines in the nearby town of Vouvray. We discovered some really wonderful white wines ...