Premiere Classe Orleans Ouest - La Chapelle Saint Mesmin La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin

... of France after the revolution, but he insisted on being crowned under the King colors rather than the tricolor of the revolution. As a result Napoleon stepped up to the plate and took the prize from under his nose. In more recent history the chateau was used to hide and store much of the Lourve's art work during WWII.

Words can't describe all that we saw in the Loire Valley so we hope our photos help.

Goodbye Loire Valley, hello Dordogne here we come!

... for campsite directions. One gentleman tells us there are none around the area and another man gives us directions to one on the outskirts of town. That was a wild goose chase!
All we could do was travel south to the next town (Orleans) an hour away and hope for a hotel.
Feeling really ****** *** we set off and after 5 minutes came across a wonderful sight, a tent symbol on a sign pointing left. Yipeeee.
Half an hour ...

... br>


 

 This place is monstrously huge!  I think it's about the biggest chateau in France. 
 At one point Napoleon gave this to one of his buddies... must have been nice eh?

... sunburnt, particularly on the lips, a real schoolboy-type error! After a stretch and revitalising shower I walk the short distance into the city centre and decide instantly that I really like Orleans. As I enter the old part of the city I spot the statue to St Jeanne D'Arc (or Joan of Arc for the Francophobes!) I bow my head momentarily in shame that my forebears put the poor young thing on a spit roast. Definitely no way to treat a girl, even a French ...

¡Hoy tocaban castillitos! Hemos visitado los castillos de Chambord y Cheverny que están a unos kms de Blois. Bueno, qué decir. Creo que las fotos hablan por sí solas. Son dos castillos espectaculares y enclavados en un paisaje de impresión. De camino a los castillos, hemos parado a desayunar y estaba todo tan rico en la pastelería de un pueblo que se nos ha ido un poco la mano pidiendo... nos hemos puesto tan tibios con palmeras, hojaldre con melocotón y cruasán que no había dios que ...

Hello from... not Paris! It was an adventure today as we journeyed from the city for the first time. We left our hotel at Porte d'Orleans pretty much first thing by taxi back over to Orly Ouest - the airport on the south side of the city -- less famous, maybe, but th eone we flew into. There we picked up our Peugot (sp?) from National rentacar, and headed on our way. We went down to Fontainebleau -- residence of French kings ...

... the massive crowds that were lined up to go in when we went back the next morning to look around the rest of the island. We were luck enough to be able to walk all the way around Mont-St-Michel as the tide wasn't in yet ... although the signs saying watch out for quicksand were a bit of a worry! From there, we drove 5 hours to see the Chateau de Chambord. We had a couple of massive storms during the day ...

After an exciting drive from and through Paris, guided by our trusty Tom-Tom that wasn't so trusty at the start since it was accidentally set to walking paths, we nervously arrived in the Valley of the Chateaux. We picked these to visit over 2 days: Chambord, Blois and Chanencaux.

Today we visited some of the chateaus in the area, chateau Chambord and Chateau Chiverny. I think that we made the right combination of chateaus to visit because they were both very different. Chambord had wonderful architecture and gardens, but the insides were not very impressive because most of the furnishing was not there. Chiverny ...

... lausa Raekoja ette. Seal tärkas meil mõte lüüa lahti rüperaal ja katsetada, kuidas on konnasööjate maal lood traadita internetiga. Ja oh imet, võrke oli lausa jalaga segada ja mõni neist täitsa turvamata. Üldiselt võib WiFi-hulludele rahumeeli kinnitada, et kui mitte tasuta, siis röövelliku viie euro eest tunnist saab Orange vahendusel ja pisut soodsamalt Wanadoo võrkudes traadita internetti kasutada vähemalt nendes Prantsusmaa linnades, kuhu me oma reisi vältel sattusime.