Le Petit Hureau Saumur

... 1088;ими 90;ивном уровн 77;, конеч 85;о же, но на разли 95;ные темы, и мы друг друга отлич 85;о понял ...

... while we ate. It's amazing the stuff Rolinka has on the bus. In addition to the table, there were large bowls for mixing up the salad, cutting boards, knives, plastic cutlery, cups and nifty plastic plates.

After lunch, we drove back to Amboise (where we briefly stopped for naked Leonardo yesterday). This was supposed to be a free, non-group-oriented afternoon, but since everyone wanted to see Leonardo da Vinci's house, Rolinka went along with us to organize a group ...

... the grounds. In fact, it's where the ladies of the court would go to watch the hunt in the surrounding forests. (There are still deer and wild game in the forest today.) Plus, you're right there at the base of the turrets, and there's a nice view of an exterior, towered spiral staircase, which is very pretty.

There were several little sandwich places and crêperies just outside of the chateau on the grounds. I sat with Anne, Bert, Linda (who may or ...

... s right, the Paint Ninja got an opportunity to apply his hard-earned Home Depot knowledge in the area of house painting. Wasn't so bad, actually...painting's kinda fun when you've got decent music to listen to, plus I was using odorless paint so I didn't have fumes to deal with. And for what it's worth, I did a pretty good job. It needs a recoat, and the primer coat was uneven and sloppy (not my doing), but ...

We spent our last ten days of travel at the family farmhouse in Coussay, reunited with the French family and introduced to the brand new and shiny swimming pool which was constructed whilst we were away. I managed to try the swimming pool 2 minutes after arriving, and we managed to ...

... only design by the master himself... Leonardo. Fantastic piece of work. At the end of the day we are all enjoying the visit but I think the kids have had enough and it is time to move on to bigger and better things. Paris is waiting for us. I don't think I will enjoy the trip as much as the family because driving in Paris is as easy as riding a bike in Venice. I just hope my luck does not run out and I can get there without a crash.

... where Catherine de Medicis use to live in as well as Francis the 1st. It was build on the water and makes you wonder what was the motivation apart from keeping the English away. It was in used right until WWI where it was used as an army hospital. When you see all those building you can understand why all nobles had their heads cut off a couple of centuries later.

... in France it was quiet something and if you come this way make sure you are visiting this place, we crowned the day by going to the "sleeping beauty" castle... Usse, did you know that this castle is still leaved in to this day... it must be hell to have people going to your house on a daily basis, I sure would not like it.

... of town. Surprising in size. I never went to the Loire so I never saw any of those castle but they look to me to be no more than 4 to 5 bedrooms, big rooms hard to heat in winter. On the other hand the grounds are always magnificent. Made our way from issoire to azay and checked in and did the local castle. Not a bad day.

Today it was misty but the sun is now out and its glorious. By the Loire; a castle on the hill and everything pretty. That sums up the conundrum of a journey like this; it's all the experiences in a fairly random order. A weeks package holiday is it's antithesis. On days like today its wonderful; on days like yesterday its a bit grim but interspersed with random events. The French family didn't get back til past ...