Mercator Hotel Vendome

... 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 ...

... 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.

... moved to NZ when he was little but now living in London. We organised to have a drink later on.

Blois is the biggest place we have visited on this trip - population 50,000 and neither of us warmed to the place. Scuffy looking people, beggers and an unwelcoming air made our trip around the town quick and with its main purpose of finding a supermarket as Maison du Scooby cupboards were bare!

We spent the ...

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.

Thursday 29 Oct
Drive to Amboise - Loire Valley
Feeling good we took on our longest drive yet to Amboise, nestled in the heart of the Loire Valley and on the banks of the Loire River. We used the time during the drive to type up our blog ready for upload once we hit our next McWifi. We arrived just after dark and found several other campervans parked near the river so we decided to join them. Kim ...

... 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 ...

And so, the harvest is over. After 4 weeks of preparing, harvesting, cleaning and pressing we here at Clos de Meslerie have produced 6,050 litres of organic, biodynamic, unaltered, hand-picked, hand-pressed, grape juice. Which, given the proper time and care will blossom into a beautiful Vouvray Chenin-Blanc. It has been such a great time and a great learning experience on so many ...

... 1072;тьс& #1103; над кажды 84; слово 84;, каждо 81; конст 88;укцие& #1081;, и все время проси 90;ь ее говор 80;ть пом ...

... amp;id=1213680067 http://usm.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 000734&l=da25b&id=1213680067 we hit paris this weekend so hopefully i'll get pictures from that up soon as well. i will write more soon...comment to let me know if the picture links worked! miss you all quite alot, but not enough to come home just yet. :) love, meryl