Loire Valley We found a rocking little bungalow a bit north of Amboise. Well, it’s more of a trailer – I think we can officially say we’ve lived in a trailer park now.We made sure to hang some washing outside on a string as well.
Amboise is this tiny little town, as always with an insane amount of history.Leonardo Da Vinci retired here, and you can see his work in some of the surrounding Chateaus.The man who could be the King of France, the Duke of Paris, lives here currently.The town lies on the Loire river, which apparently marks the farthest the Moors reached in their conquest of Europe.I had no idea they had gotten this far – we were only 200km SW from Paris.
Coolest Chateau for me was definitely Cheverny – I had no idea until I saw the place that this was the chateau that Herge modeled the one in Tintin after.If you don’t know Tintin, it’s a wonderful Belgian cartoon that’s ridiculously popular everywhere but the US.I’ve loved it since I was a kid, so a rather nice surprise.The other fun part was the hunting dogs – there must have been 50-60 of these guys in a massive pen.At 5:00 daily they are fed and it was a massacre.The guy brought out a wheelbarrow full of duck remains and the dogs went insane.The weird part is that not a single dog touched the food till he said so.
Chateau Chenonceaux was definitely the prettiest, and the one you see in all the photos.Again an amazing amount of history, with a massive number of royalty having owned or lived in the building.Some of the owners were pretty impressive, such as one man who let the building be used as a hospital during WWI, and the prisoners would fish out of their beds.Interestingly, the building was apparently quite useful during WWII, as its front door sat in Occupied France and its back door in VichyFrance.
Chateau Chambord was absolutely massive – would have taken us a year to see that whole place.I took a bunch of pictures, and will leave it at that as this post is getting obscenely long.
Long drive to the south tomorrow for a stay in Dordogne region.
Nadirah -- This is Erica, Andrea Walsh's sister. I loved seeing your pics of the Loire Valley! I lived in Amboise for about 4 months back in 1992, so I enjoyed the walk down memory lane! I'm jealous of your travels!
Coolest Chateau for me was definitely Cheverny – I had no idea until I saw the place that this was the chateau that Herge modeled the one in Tintin after. If you don’t know Tintin, it’s a wonderful Belgian cartoon that’s ridiculously popular everywhere but the 
Chateau Chenonceaux was definitely the prettiest, and the one you see in all the photos. Again an amazing amount of history, with a massive number of royalty having owned or lived in the building. Some of the owners were pretty impressive, such as one man who let the building be used as a hospital during WWI, and the prisoners would fish out of their beds. Interestingly, the building was apparently quite useful during WWII, as its front door sat in Occupied France and its back door in 
Chateau 
1 comment:
Nadirah -- This is Erica, Andrea Walsh's sister. I loved seeing your pics of the Loire Valley! I lived in Amboise for about 4 months back in 1992, so I enjoyed the walk down memory lane! I'm jealous of your travels!
Erica Wonderling
erica62371@atlanticbb.net
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