Inter-Hotel Le Bellevue Montrichard

... cliff a few times we finally found the campsite.(Damn you GPS) .We are trying to stay away from night driving but when the drive is 5 hours long and its dark by 5pm it gets difficult.

I also remember that France has A LOT of farm land. That’s all we drove through. It’s crazy. Anyway, after a quick stop here it was off to Bordeaux for the real fun to begin!

... that the property holds, but it's what gets put in that comes out. And I'm sure that if you know what to look for you can taste hints of that grace and character in the wine that is made there.

So it's with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to all my friends in France, however briefly we met. There's no way that the times that I've had wont shape the rest of my experiences in my travels, and for that I'm grateful.

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.

The history of the chateau was also very interesting as it was home to whom would have been next ...

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 ...

... or two but since the laundrette was only up the road we decided to go for it. 16kg oops and the dryers were **** so they chewed through our Euros :( but at least we had everything clean again. The plan for the rest of the day was to have lunch then head up to Blois chateau, however the heavens opened and did not close so we have a chill out afternoon in Scooby and managed to squeeze in a trip to McWifi to upload our blog.

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 ...

... Friday 30 Oct
Next morning was overcast and nippy which always means a slow start to the day. Went out for a 9km run through the village and I managed to sneak in some hills, much to Kim's dismay but she managed to run all the way. I had thought it was not that hilly until we drove the way we run the following day and Scoooy started to struggle! Caught the end of the local farmers markets and bought ...

... history and grandeur. It was quite extravagant and took us 4 hrs to see all of it. The grounds were just as impressive - serving as a nature reserve with an abundance of wildlife. The circumference of walls built around the property is about 35 kms in length.
The castle in Blois was smaller but also interesting, composed of several wings built in different time periods and styles.
Having completed our detour, we headed for our last stop in France: Paris.

... and was just about to allow nature to take its course when around the corner strolls a woman walking her dog. I am not sure who was the more susrprised: her, me or the dog! Anyway, dignity just about intact, I bade her 'Bonjour!' and shuffled back to my bicycle to search for slightly more seclusion in all that seclusion. (The Gendarmerie are probably still looking for ...