Loire Valley: Castles, Wine, Countryside

First things first, don't tell a French person you went to the Val de Loire (Loire Valley) because this is apparently an American term for this area.  If you don't want the French to look at you with utter confusion, then you should call this area the Val de chateaux.  But, regardless of what you call it, it's an amazing place to spend a weekend!  We had a blast visiting the chateaus and wineries with my parents!





We left bright and early Friday morning and arrived at our first castle on the trip, Chambord.  This was used as a hunting "lodge" by Francis I and a few others, but it sure isn't like the hunting "lodges" we know!  It has something like 440 rooms, and all are spectacular (not that we saw all 440, of course).  My favorite part was the spiral staircase in the middle with 2 different sets of stairs spiraling around each other.  It's rumored that DaVinci helped design this staircase.

Looking through the staircase. Lots of ornate details all over the castle. ---->

After a successful first castle visit, we made our way through the French countryside and visited some of the small towns in the area.  We ate lunch in Blois, whose highlight was a house on the main square that had dragons come out the windows every 30 minutes. (We still have no idea why.)  After a failed attempt to walk to Chaumont to see the front without paying to get in, we went to Amboise.  You know how you see cute, quaint French villages in the movies?  Well, this is one time where reality actually lives up to the movies.  I was in love with all of the flowers and cuteness in these cities!
Of course, after a day of sight-seeing villages and castles, you have to also visit some wineries for some wine tastings!  The first place we stopped was just for tasting, where we met a crazy old French lady, and tasted some delicious wine.  The second place, was a more formal tour at Paul Buisse.  We got to tour the caves, the cellars, etc., and taste about 5 wines, all for free!  (Of course, we bought several bottles before leaving...but at 5-8 euros a bottle, how can you go wrong?  Good thing we brought our car!)
We checked into our amazingly, cute bed and breakfast that I would highly recommend to anyone going to this area.  The hosts were extremely friendly, we had the whole place practically to ourselves, and you felt like you were in the middle of the country alongside a small river while only being a few minutes from town!  Not to mention the amazing breakfasts Yvonne cooked to order for us each morning!
To cap off our amazing day, we ate at Yvonne's son's restaurant where, no joke, I felt like I was in America again.  A HUGE plate, heaping with a big burger, tons of fries, and a big salad.  I could barely finish half of it. (I'm beginning to understand why America has such a weight problem...)  And then, we visited Chenonceau Chateau for their summer night garden show.  For only 5 euros, we got to see the castle and gardens at sunset, then magically light up for night time, all with music playing in the background.  This castle was definitely my favorite one, and seeing it at night made it all that more special.
Saturday morning, after a delicious breakfast complete with homemade bread, we headed out to the other side of tours to Chateau Villandry.  We didn't go inside this castle, just visited the gardens, but they were amazing!!  Everything from roses to exotic flowers to perfectly manicured hedges...I liked it even better than the Kukenhof gardens in the Netherlands (which supposedly people travel from around the world to visit).
We then made our way to Azay-le-Rideau to see its "story-book-esque" chateau.  This one was fully furnished, so it was pretty cool to walk in and imagine what it would have been like to live here.
After a quick lunch, we decided it was time for another winery!  We found one nearby and got a tour of the vineyard this time.  (And of course, bought a few more bottles.  Yes, the poor little Yaris, is getting pretty full at this point!)

The rest of the day was spent relaxing at the bed and breakfast, enjoying sun and some of our newly purchased wine.  That night we went into a small town and had an amazing dinner at a traditional French restaurant.  After realizing that food is much cheaper in small towns than in Paris (our meal would've cost 2-3 times as much in Paris), I want to go to more small towns in France!


Sunday morning we made our way back to Paris but made a few pit stops in Cheverny and Orleans.  Mom & Dad went and toured the Cheverny castle, while Nick and I walked around the town and I attempted my 2nd ever stick driving lesson.  I made it onto the road, turned around, and was feeling pretty proud of myself when I came to a roundabout and had to wait for a car.  Let's just say, the next 5-10 minutes were not some that you would've wanted to be in the car for.  I was convinced I could do it but kept stalling it out and soon there were lines of cars going around me and groups of people watching.  Turns out, it was was in 3rd gear which is why it was more difficult, but I probably won't be trying again anytime soon!  There are no pictures from this adventure, although I'm sure they'd be quite comical!  We made our lunch stop in Orleans.  Such a cute town!! It was full of flowers, quaint streets, and another Notre-Dame style church.  The blue skies and sunshine didn't hurt my opinion of it either.  We ate lunch at a fondue/hot stone restaurant, which is traditional Alps food, but still so delicious!


Great end to a great trip.  Would I go back? Definitely...there are still lots of parts of the Loire Valley we didn't get to see and I love wandering through all the cute little villages.  Be sure to check out the rest of our Loire Valley pictures here!

Ohh..our cave is finally happy that is has some wine to store now.  Not a bad start to filling it up!