France 23 | FindPenguins

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France 23 Traveler
Oh no, is Kathy buying another castle??
August 30, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F
Whew!!! She decided that at 440 rooms it was just a "little" too big. What a relief. (Chambord Castle by the way.)
TravelerDaaaaaang….
8/30/23Reply
TravelerSeriously, what did they DO with all those rooms? I thought only Mad King Ludwig had that big a castle!
8/30/23Reply
TravelerI 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.
8/31/23Reply
TravelerPS This is Dan posting.
8/31/23Reply
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France 23 Traveler
Anniversary
August 31, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 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!
TravelerHappy Anniversary 🎂❤️!!!
8/31/23Reply
TravelerThanks, Kimbers! It's off to a very nice start!
8/31/23Reply
TravelerHappy Anniversary. 💕🎉
8/31/23Reply
TravelerThanks, Little Ski Buddy. Opening your card this morning made me feel like you were with us just like you were 26 years ago!
8/31/23Reply
TravelerHappy belated anniversary!!
9/23/23Reply
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France 23 Traveler
Chambord Castle Rooftop
August 31, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F
One of my favorite things about Chambord Castle was the rooftop. It was like a little fairy tale village up there.
TravelerThat is really cool! Would love to see that!
8/31/23Reply
3 likes
France 23 Traveler
Feuding Royals
August 31, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 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 preferred Chateau Chenonceau (the one we visited the day before which Dan jokingly said I purchased). Because Henry loved Diane more, he gave the castle to her. But Catherine ultimately got her way after Henry's death. She kicked Diane out and took over the digs.Read more
TravelerWhat??? You didn’t purchase. I thought we would all vacation there
8/31/23Reply
TravelerWouldn't that be fun?!
8/31/23Reply
TravelerInteresting story!
8/31/23Reply
1 like
France 23 Traveler
Loches Donjon
August 31, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 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 for high ranking political figures.Read more
TravelerCertainly not as lovely as the castles!
8/31/23Reply
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France 23 Traveler
Why Did The Geese Cross The Road?
September 1, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 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. They are then slaughtered so we can enjoy this incredibly delicious food. Fois gras is on every menu around here! This picture was taken at a goose farm. Our guide told us these are young geese and are not fat enough yet. Eat, little geese, Eat!Read more
TravelerNever could make myself eat that. Glad you are enjoying it though!
9/1/23Reply
TravelerI agree with Ruth. Not for my taste buds
9/1/23Reply
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France 23 Traveler
Prehistoric Art
September 1, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 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 at Font-de-Gaume and the other at Rouffignac. They were amazing! We also toured the area with a private guide who took us to some very pretty villages that have existed for centuries.Read more
TravelerI never knew France had caves like this. Very interesting!
9/1/23Reply
TravelerThat’s amazing. What is the paint made out of?
9/1/23Reply
TravelerReds were made from iron oxides, aka rust, and the blacks were from charcoal and/or magnesium dioxide. -Dan
9/1/23Reply
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France 23 Traveler
Sacre Bleu!
September 1, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 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 very dangerous thing when combined with French roads, especially in Dodogne. The roads are very narrow, with nearly constant turns, many of them around blind corners. So far on this trip I must have made 2,000 turns, and I am not trying to exaggerate. The road to Hana is like the Interstate in Iowa compared to here. Twice today we rounded a blind corner only to see a vehicle coming straight at us in our lane! They had about 2 seconds to move over to avoid a head on crash. I blew my horn and started heading for the ditch. (The shoulders are only 1 or 2 feet wide, if that.) Luckily they swerved at the last instant and I was able to stay out of the ditch. Our French guide who was riding in the back seat was really shook up. He said he could tell that they were English by the license plates. He also said that the same thing had happened to him last week, but I got the impression that it wasn't such a close call.Read more
TravelerOh, how scary! Stay safe!!
9/1/23Reply
TravelerWow - be safe
9/1/23Reply
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France 23 Traveler
Siege!
September 2, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 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 oriented to the other side . It had a well in a deep water-table so it had ample supplies of water. It just needed to have enough food on hand.

One thing we learned today is that castles were rarely destroyed in a siege because they were considered too valuable. Each side weighed its strength against the others then if the defenders thought the castle could be taken they would surrender it in exchange for their lives and some cash.

The trebuchets are full size replicas created from various sources as none survived very long.

OK that part was written by Dan and now I'm taking over ...

The castle changed hands 7 times during the Hundred Years war between the English and the French. It finally ended up in French hands during the seige of 1442.

Dan really enjoyed this place especially the demonstration of how the catapult worked. And what about me? I enjoyed the wine I had as a reward for enduring this!Read more
TravelerLoved the write up
9/2/23Reply
TravelerYou both should become travel writers!
9/2/23Reply
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France 23 Traveler
Canoeing on the Vezere River
September 3, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 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!
TravelerWhat fun!
9/4/23Reply
Traveler8 miles! Very impressive! And looks like there were no Englishmen in your way!
9/4/23Reply
TravelerHa 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.
9/4/23Reply
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France 23 Traveler
2 Glasses of Wine!
September 3, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 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 a hotel that looks like this.

She should be smiling shouldn't she?Read more
TravelerJust 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!
9/3/23Reply
TravelerRed wine is definitely my type
9/3/23Reply
TravelerSounds like a perfect day ❤️
9/4/23Reply
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Trip end
September 5, 2023