Last time we went to the Loire Valley, we stayed in the northeast corner in the town of Amboise. This time, we explored the southwest portion out of the town Chinon. Though the chateaux around Amboise were amazing and we left many untouched, there were some spectacular ones to the south that we wanted explore this time around. We jumped an early Saturday morning TGV heading west out of Paris and in just over an hour were arriving in Tours. By 11am, we had rented the car and navigated our way to our first stop of the weekend – Villandry. Chateau Villandry is known more for its gardens that the chateau itself and it was immediately apparent why. They are probably some of the most impressive and well maintained gardens in Europe.
Jen's parents are quite the gardeners themselves and were wowed by the endless rows of boxbush and roses. We strolled through the gardens at Linda and Charlie's pace letting them soak in the scenery. By the time we finished the extensive garden walk, we had built up enough of an appetite to skip the inside of the chateau and head straight for lunch at a nearby cafe.
It wasn't long before we came to our second stop for the day – Chateau Langeais. While Villandry was beautiful and built more to impress people of the day, Langeais was a defensive fortress built high upon a hill and complete with a moat and drawbridge.
We toured the chateau itself and found it to be mildly impressive. What we found to be very impressive though was the selection of tapestries for sale in one of the rooms of the chateau. Were not talking about some of the poor guides hawking the duke's tapestries, but instead some high quality pieces that were for sale. Jen and I are suckers for anything that could cover a wall in our home in Dallas. One of the things you learn when you buy your first home is that those college posters that once covered your tiny dormroom no longer cut it. We spent our money on furniture when we first moved in, but were left with a bunch of empty walls to fill. Now, every time one of us sees something that would work in our house and is reasonable enough in price, then we go into deliberations about if it will fit in a suitcase and which wall exactly did we think it would go on. Many times those conversations end up with one of us vetoing said item. This time, we were at the register with two tapestries in our hands within minutes of entering the room.
At the prices we paid, it felt like we were stealing from the duke, so we quickly exited the chateau and headed for the defenses up the hill. While the gardens couldn't compare to Villandry, we did have a great view of the town below.
That evening we ended up in the great wine town of Chinon. We were just off the main square which had plenty of restaurants and shops still open when we arrived. Charlie and I headed for a famous wine cave (literally tunneled into the cliffs) while Jen and her mom ended up in a fancy French country store. Charlie and I made the walk across town to the wine cave, toured the deep caves, did a full tasting, bought several bottles of Chinon, walked back to find Jen and her mother still in the same store determining which sets of tea towels they were going to buy. Charlie and I did what most men do in these situations; we checked in occasionally on their progress and otherwise stood out of the way outside waiting for things to finish up. We finished the night at a nice fish restaurant and turned in a bit early so that we would be rested for a busy Sunday.
The next morning we started out at Chateau Chinon. It is more of a defensive structure that sits high above the town and river. The views of the town below were worth the steep walk uphill.
The town of Chinon was busy completing restoring the old chateau that was built in the 1200s and was in considerable disrepair just a few years ago. Perhaps the best part was an interesting exhibit showing how modern workers were replicating techniques and design to recreate the fortress in its original form. Before we left town that morning, we made one more stope at another wine cave. By 11am, Charlie and I were inside another underground cave sampling wines. We didn't leave beore purchasing 3 more bottles of local reds. The problem with the new purchases was that our suitcases were already stuffed leaving Jen and her mother to jam them into the back seat pockets.
With the car fully loaded we arrived at Chateau Usse around lunchtime. The chateau is famous for its inspiring the French writer, Charles Perrault, in the story of Sleeping Beauty written in 1697.
The chateau was in great shape and throughout the inside wax figures were placed to create a better sense of what things were like several hundred years ago. In the highest point of the tower, several scenes from the story of Sleeping Beauty were laid out and was among the most popular spots of the tour. We snapped a few photos and then hit up the gift shop for our little princess, our 4 year old neice Paige, who might have picked up a few more Christmas presents that day.
Our last stop for the weekend was Chateau Azay Le Rideau. It's one of the more famous chateaux in the Loire because of its picturesque setting in a pond. It was a beautiful chateau and understandly popular because it made for such nice photos.
The interior was ok, but its another chateau that people visit because of its exterior and open gardens. We quickly did the tour and then spent the rest of the time in the gardens and town. Jen's parents got the tapestry bug in town at a nice shop and walked out with two new souvenirs from their trip to France.
On the train home that evening, we were all a bit tired from the busy weekend. Five chateaus, 2 degustations at wine caves and a little shopping made for a full trip. As Jen's parents were leaving the next day, it turned out to be the perfect end to the trip. Taking them out of the city and into the beautiful countryside turned out to be the highlight of their trip graduated them to Phase 3 - ready to return!
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| Loire Valley II |
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