Oh no, is Kathy buying another castle??
30 de agosto de 2023, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F
Whew!!! She decided that at 440 rooms it was just a "little" too big. What a relief. (Chambord Castle by the way.)
Anniversary
31 de agosto de 2023, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
Today is our 26th wedding anniversary. At the B&B where we are staying in the Loire Valley, they served fruit to us for breakfast in the shape of a wedding cake!
ViajeroThanks, Little Ski Buddy. Opening your card this morning made me feel like you were with us just like you were 26 years ago!
Chambord Castle Rooftop
31 de agosto de 2023, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F
One of my favorite things about Chambord Castle was the rooftop. It was like a little fairy tale village up there.
Feuding Royals
31 de agosto de 2023, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F
Dan mentioned that Francis I started the construction of Chambord. When he died, his son Henry II inherited it. Henry's mistress, Diane de Poiters, and his wife, Catherine de Medici, both preferredLeer más
Loches Donjon
31 de agosto de 2023, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F
A fortress was built here by the Count of Anjou Foulques III Nerra between 1013 and 1035. Lots of modifications were made over the years with it becoming a prison from the 15th to 18th century forLeer más
Why Did The Geese Cross The Road?
1 de septiembre de 2023, Francia ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F
.... to be fattened up for fois gras, of course! We are in the Dordogne region of France which is noted for its production of fois gras. Geese are over fed to fatten them up and create large livers.Leer más
Prehistoric Art
1 de septiembre de 2023, Francia ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F
There are hundreds of caves in this area that have art work in them from 15,000 years ago. The most famous one, in Lascaux, is closed to the public permanently so we visited 2 others today, one atLeer más
ViajeroReds were made from iron oxides, aka rust, and the blacks were from charcoal and/or magnesium dioxide. -Dan
Sacre Bleu!
1 de septiembre de 2023, Francia ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
Today we were nearly killed by the English. Twice! The English love to vacation in this part of France. Apparently there are so many of them that they think they are still in England. That is a veryLeer más
Siege!
2 de septiembre de 2023, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F
The castle at Castelnaud-La-Chapelle was for centuries considered nearly unassailable. It was built on bedrock so it could not be undermined. There were steep cliffs on 3 sides. Its defenses orientedLeer más
Canoeing on the Vezere River
3 de septiembre de 2023, Francia ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F
We did an 8 mile canoe trip today down the Vezere River. It was very calm and shallow. Thank goodness! After all that paddling, I've earned a glass (or 2) of wine!
Viajero8 miles! Very impressive! And looks like there were no Englishmen in your way!
ViajeroHa Ha!! No Englishmen or anyone else to speak of. At times I wondered if we were on the right river or had missed our take out point. Since the canoe vendor had given us instructions in French with a few English words thrown in, we weren't sure we had understood him correctly.
2 Glasses of Wine!
3 de septiembre de 2023, Francia ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F
Kathy has a smile on her face because she
1) She picked not just 2 glasses but a whole bottle of wine from the cellar.
2) At at this restaurant at hotel Monrecour.
3) With views like this.
4) With aLeer más
ViajeroJust to be clear, we're having dinner here but staying in a much more modest B&B which I love. This dinner is fabulous! Good pick, Dan!
ViajeroDaaaaaang….
ViajeroSeriously, what did they DO with all those rooms? I thought only Mad King Ludwig had that big a castle!
ViajeroI thought Ludwig's tended to be on the smaller side. This castle was actually very seldomly occupied. It was designed more to show the power of Francis I, started when he came to power in his early twenties. Francis moved about a lot, from castle to castle. I'll post something about his furniture next.
ViajeroPS This is Dan posting.