FourFirths: On to the Loire Valley...

June 17, 2012

Today we say goodbye to the awe inspiring Mont Blanc, and lovely town of Chamonix. The descent down from the mountain was surprisingly quick. Then we spent six hours going through relatively level central France with a few rolling hills. It seemed a really long drive, but that could be because I’ve caught a cold and my allergies are acting up as well.

We arrived at a cute little bed and breakfast about 6 kilometers outside of Amboise, in the Loire Valley. It was great for the kids to get out and play after the long day in the car. The swing set was put to good use. If you look closely, you can see that there is also a basketball hoop at the end of the swingset. Danika, Jason and I played a game of HORSE, and Danika and I lost while Jason still only had an H. I was trying all kinds of things to throw him off his game too. I tried underhand granny shots, backwards over the shoulder shots, and more, but he managed to make them all. I should also say, that the basket is so low that I can almost dunk it with my feel flat on the grass. Guess that is why I never played basketball.

There were lots of animals as we were on a working farm. Our favorite was pompelmoose, (grapefruit), the donkey.

After settling in, we drove into Amboise for dinner. Typical tree lined roads in France…

We had dinner and walked through town.

Then we walked down to the Loire river and saw the Amboise chateau.

The Chateau Chenonceaux is very close to where we are staying. It's the third most popular chateau in France (after Versailles and Fontebleau in Paris). You can walk around the grounds in the evening from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. We arrived just as the sun was setting so we were able to take pictures in the evening light as well as after dark. Our first view…

We were the first ones there, so it felt like our very own castle. There was beautiful music playing and it made you feel like you were in a fairytale.

We really enjoyed exploring…

You walk under a grape arbor to get to the boat landing. You can see David and Danika down at the end.

After we took loads of pictures we headed to the labyrinth that Queen Catherine de Medicis designed. We decided to stay here until it was dark enough to get the pictures of the Chateau floodlit. The kids had a blast playing around in the maze. They were short enough so that they couldn’t see where they were. David and I both found it a little creepy even though we could see above the hedge and knew where we were.

Once it was dark we headed back to the Chateau. Our first view again. It looks a little dreamy to me. Of course it is because I couldn’t hold the camera steady for the low light conditions…

But not bad when I have something to set the camera on.

The water in the river was so still that it offered the perfect reflection.

Yes, I am walking in a fairytale…

The floodlights on the Chateau change color over time. Check out the following three pictures.

As you walk around the grounds, there are lights along the paths. Jason stood over one and decided it was time to tell ghost stories, and what better way than to stand over one of these lights.