Mercure Centre Tours

... I know I'll wonder how I did so much living in so little time. <br><br> Something special happens to an estate that's been around for almost 250 years. It starts to take on it's own personality, and through that it attracts the type of people that would make what it is that much better. My hosts at La Meslerie treat the people that visit with such undying grace and character that it's easy to chock it up to some mystical ...

... 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>

... big, delicious macaroon biscuits (but not as good as the ones I heard Laura made for Kim before she left London!!!). Kim went for another wander through the village and found a little cave under the chateau that offered free wine tasting. She tried a sparkling, rose and savingnon from the region. The sparkling won her vote (even though it was not pink!). I on the other hand giving Scooby some more TLC ...

... 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 ...

... I will have for many years to come. I have to say that having this experience at the beginning of this journey has been exactly what someone who is going into the great unknown would want. <br><br> During the last of my time here, we will obviously finish up pressing the rest of the grapes that we are able to get this season, but I'd also like to take as much time as I can to visit some of the historic ...

I took a day trip into Tours, which is the biggest city around here. It's a pretty amazing places, I still have a lot of exploring to do here yet, but I wanted to post some pictures of my first trip that I took into Tour alone.<br><br>Enjoy<br>

... days. But when i opened it, i sort of shredded the cork, so I was like, "Oh well, I guess I have to drink the whole thing!" Yeah, not my brightest moment. So I did this, and of course was feeling pretty happy that night, though i knew I should expect the hangover in the morning. I didn't expect to be up and... erm... ill in the middle of the night. Not fun! The next morning, I felt bad, but not in the normal way of a hangover. This was all ...

... the 10th biggest city in France. The city is busy but still has the look of being old and quaint. On some of the streets, wooden framed buildings are still there from centuries past. We walked by the government building and opera house and then spent a couple minutes in a cathedral. Overall, it wasn't an incredibly interesting city. It was about a 3 hour drive to get from Rennes to ...

... than the wine museum, although Tammy was not very impressed with a couple of gory equine exhibits! In reality the museums probably were not that bad we ara just comparing them to the very high standards of the Louvre. Yesterday at breakfast we met a like minded American traveller whom we chatted to for a while. We gave him some tips about England his next destination. As it turned out he had been to the Chateau Chenonceau our destination ...

... no amore from us (sorry, Dean). We were ready to leave the minute we woke up, so we boarded a train bound for the historic city of Pompeii. In our many travels, Bill and I have been privileged to visit about 1 million archaeological sites, and after about 10, they all start to look the same. Fortunately for us, Pompeii was the exception. The site itself is absolutely huge and the best preserved (probably thanks to the lava that so delicately preserved everything there) that we ...