Loire Valley (Sam)

Sunday Oct 24th

We have left Bretagne and are now in the Loire Valley.  Today we went and saw Chambord: a huge château.  When we first approached, I was awed by its sheer size.  It was commissioned by Francois I and took some 30 odd years to build.  It is comprised of 426 rooms, has 282 fireplaces and 77 staircases. (just for your information my Dad's information on this comes from the Lonely Planet Guide Book, mine comes form the Chambord Visitors Guide, so obviously my information is more relable) (maybe, maybe not. ed.). I now understand why the French had their revolution.  My favourite part of the castle was the double helix staircase, believed to be designed by Leonardo de Vinci. It is like a two spiral staircases one on top of the other.  The castle was built to serve as a giant hunting lodge for the king.  It was very hard to navigate the castle, but I think we managed to see most of it in the end.

Chambord

Monday Oct 25th

Today we went to Chartres.  The main attraction there is the huge Cathedral; we could see it before we entered the city.  The detail of the carvings all over the Cathedral was stunning and the stained glass windows were even better.  We climbed up the north tower and I was amazed at how much detail they put up high were few would see it.  The only disappointment was that the famous labyrinth was covered with chairs.  Although I will not complain; seeing the Cathedral didn’t cost us anything.

Chatres

Wednesday Oct 27th

We decided to go all out today and try and to see two châteaux in one day. (Did I mention that the Loire valley is famous for their châteaux?). We had planned to wake up early but in the end we woke up around 9 am instead. After breakfast we drove to Amboise to visit Clos Lucé, where Leonardo DaVinci spent his final years. The park and chateau were really cool because they had made life-size replicas of some of his inventions and you were allowed to try them out for yourself. Our second château of the day was Chenonceau. The château spans the river Cher with a series of beautiful arches. Also, this one was smaller and easier to navigate. I think I would rather live in this one than Chambord. They also had a labyrinth; and thankfully, this one was not covered in chairs.

Chenonceau

Clos Lucé

Inside Leonardo's tank