NOTE: This post describes TUESDAY'S action, a little out of order due to technical difficulties!
Today was a another perfect one. Weather was clear, sunny, cool and breezy. We had another fantastic breakfast here at Le Vieux Manoir, then drove to the legendary Chateau Chenonceau. This is probably the most beautiful chateau in the Loire Valley, and is the chateau we’ve used as the the opening picture for the title page of this blog...Onward!
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| Breakfast setting and spread of food at Le Vieux Manoir...this is the way we START the meal...more is added as we go! |
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| Our host, Gloria |
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| Lynn and John breakfasting like crazy! |
All 6 of us fit into the car perfectly, after figuring out how to open the passenger seats to gain access to the “way-back” seats. We are getting adept at using the GPS now so had clear directions to the chateau. On arrival, we paid our entrance fees and strolled to the chateau down a long avenue of tall plane trees, opening to the chateau and gardens on the banks of the river Loire. Wow! Better than pictures we’d seen. What a spectacular place. The history of this place dates back to the 1500’s, when it was the home of the King Henry II’s favorite mistress Diane d’Poitier. She designed a bridge to connect the chateau to the other bank of the Loire. When King Henry was killed in a jousting accident, his wife Catherine de Medici, took the chateau back from Diane and sent her to live somewhere else. Catherine had two more stories of structure built top the bridge Diane had built, leaving basically the chateau as it looks today.
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| Hiking in to the Chateu |
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| Chenonceau from a distance |
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| John and Lynn in Diana's Garden |
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| Diana's Garden...look, they use modern equipment to maintain it! |
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| Andy and Linda in the great hall, which crosses the Loire River |
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| Lynn in kitchen from WWI, when they used Chenonceau as a hospital for injured soldiers |
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| Us, in Queen Catherine's Garden |
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| Jack and John considering another kayak trip... |
We climbed all over this place, from kitchen (bottom floor, near the river so they could get deliveries of groceries and supplies) to the top floor (bedroom of another Medici-related queen whose king hubby died in office). The exterior was just perfect. The interior was interesting, but the grounds and gardens were even better. Pictures probably show it better than words. We got the see the grounds crew working on the gardens, and they WORK. Much of the trimming, edging and layout of the complex garden patterns seem to be done by hand.
We made it back without incident: everybody always celebrates when we pull back into the parking area of Le Vieux Manor without hitting anything! Now to relax for the afternoon, read a book, and study up on the hurricane which is threatening South Florida according to news reports we are receiving here. Lots of messages home to Florida to check on preparations by the folks left behind. Everyone please stay safe there!
PHOTOS are HERE if you'd like to see more:
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