Ali and Maddie in France: Castles Cubed

Day 26, June 23rd:Today we toured the sparkling Loire Valley and visited two of the many chateaux in this region. First up was Chambord, Francois the First's hunting lodge. We were able to explore a bit more of this chateau than at Versailles, so that was really fun. Also, we got from level to level using the double helix staircase. After exploring to our hearts content, the group met back up with Servane, who had purchased our authentic regional picnic that we were to have for lunch. We sat out in the lawn of Chambord while she explained to us what each item was, from the many cheeses, breads, sausages, pates, fresh fruits, juices, and waters. It was delicious! Everyone was so full after feasting on all the French goodies. We then piled on the bus and began the long bus ride to our next chateau, Chenonceau. We made a stop in Amboise, an adorable town on the way, where we got to wander the streets a bit. Maddie did some shopping and Ali bought an ice cream. Chenonceau was beautiful, of course. We headed straight for the labyrinth, which ended up being kind of tiny, but still fun to run through. Chenonceau housed the mistress and wife of Henry II. This one was really cool because of the Loire River running beneath the castle, and we got to see all the people rafting and kayaking down the river. It was a perfectly beautiful sunny day. We went back to Blois for dinner where we ate at a rather upscale looking restaurant where our appetizer was a tomato filled with salmon cream cheese mixture, main course of chicken, potatoes and vegetables, and an amazing lemon meringue pie for dessert! After eating, we went to the chateau of Blois to watch a lightshow they project on the chateau walls while telling a story. The lights were insanely cool, but the story was entirely in French and we were much too tired at this point to translate much of it. Our French is okay, but not nearly that comprehensive! Another eventful day, and thus headed straight for bed once back at our hotel.