Mercure Tours Nord 3m

... 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.<br><br> 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. <br><br>

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 ...

... Now came the hard part, trying to decide which chateaus to visit as we knew we could not visit them all. In the end we bought a multi-chateau pass to Cheverny, Chombard and Blois and then had to buy Chenoceau separately. <br> Why choose these chateau's? Chenonceau for the fairy tale chateau, Cheverney for the extravengant interior and furnishings, Blois for the architecture and Chombard for its grandness.

... some drinks in Amboise which is currently my favorite destination that is close to the Meslerie. The Loire valley has so many gems though, it would take forever to uncover them all, so I will choose my battles, and hopefully win several of them before I leave.<br><br> So, I leave you with a few pictures from my day trip to Amboise/Chenonceau and a promise that there is more to come soon.

... around here, and to visit some of the friends that I've made during the time that I've been here. I'll hopefully have lots of pictures of the various chateaux in the area, as well as any other adventures I may have. This post is mainly to update you with alot more pictures that have come my way since my friends were here for the harvest, so hopefully you'll enjoy them.<br><br>I'll keep you updated!<br>

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>

... pain and no head pain. But still, I operated on the assumption that this was a hangover and we proceeded. That morning we explored the city of Orleans -- obsessed with Joan of Arc. There were Joan references *everywhere*. One of her miracles was performed there, you see, that led to her sainthood. We explored the cathedral (even more impressive than Notre Dame, I thought, because it's all by itself, and without throngs of tourists). We visited a ...

... so that took up the rest of the afternoon. We stopped at a convenient store for about half an hour half way through the drive. I bought an Orangina there. This is a very popular French drink so I figured I better try it. It tastes like orange juice (with a little pulp left in too) with a carbonated kick to it. It was pretty good! We got to Tours just before 6PM and since Beibei ...

... the day, he gave us some tips including a rather bizarre one about seeing the fancy 'restrooms' as he called them. The Chateau was incredible it literally sits over a river on pillars which form arches to let the water through. Inside there were roring fires and we did the audio tour which was done through an ipod, it was very interesting especially as as well as showing you all of the incredibly luxorious bedrooms, lounges etc it also ...

... ever seen. Our continual quest for morbidity brought us to the area of the city where you can actually see people's bodies encased in volcanic rock. They are so well preserved that you can still make out the facial expressions of the victims as the lava poured over them. Needless to say, the expressions were not pleasant. In addition to this, there were 3 outdoor arenas, public baths, the homes of rich people, shops, and original street signs all still intact. After Pompeii ...