Paris Day 3

Saturday 15th

This morning we got up early and made our way to the Musee D'Orsay to catch a tour bus for our Wine & Chateau tour. After 2 hours on the bus (and our first experience at a French gas station---can we talk about how amazing their gas station food is? oh, and those instant deluxe latte machines, lifesavers!) we escaped the hustle and bustle of city life and relaxed in the country life.

Our first stop was the Chateau de Chambord which was built as a "hunting lodge" by King Francois I was never actually completed, and proved to be quite unlivable to the French nobility so mostly it's a gorgeous castle that's been empty for years! The roof was architected to mimic the skyline of a town and inside there is a double helix staircase believed to be a work of DaVinci. This chateau is mostly known as being the inspiration for the castle portrayed in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

PICTURES

By now it's midday and our next stop was about an hour down the road to a smaller chateau that is a small, family owned winery. Our tour here began with a wine tasting, and the proprieter was quite a "jambon" (ham in French). He then led us into a small banquet room where we feasted on local cheese, bread, and a meal of rustic chicken, tomatoes, and potatoes. It was so simple but so delicious! And it was unlimited wine during the meal...and it was good! After our dinner, and dessert of Apple Pie (how American of them!) Jack, the owner's son (a.k.a. most beautiful French man, and my future husband) gave us a tour of the grounds. The chateau was simple but elegant, and the on-site chapel so pretty! We also learned all about the pigeon coupe and how back in the day the number of pigeons nesting there represented how many acres you owned. Sadly we had to leave and Jack couldn't come with us :(

PICTURES

Our final stop of the day was at Chateau de Chenonceau located in the Loire Valley of France. This was a beautiful area full of history, mostly related to the King's wife and his mistress' rivalry of power. King Henry II's wife and mistress fought over the Chateau and eventually the wife won out and created a rival garden to outshine Diane's former influence there. All this to say, both Catherine and Diane's gardens are beautiful! In more recent French history the chateau served as a hospital during WWI and a refuge from Nazi's during WW2

The ride home took a bit longer because of traffic, but the bus dropped us off near the Louvre and we walked through the illuminated pyramids then made our way to an Irish bar for dinner. By the time we got home it was quite late, only to find that the cafes on our street carried the echoed conversations throughout the neighborhood and cars raced down the narrow streets late into the night...leaving our apartment very noisy at night! We turned on the stove's vent as a makeshift "white noise" and went to bed.