We woke up in our hotel room in Tours and went downstairs for breakfast. A man named Pascal and his partner ran the hotel and Pascal were serving breakfast. He was very nice and served us incredible hot chocolate, croissants, baguette, Nutella, and jam. We ate quickly then got in a cab to the Tourist Office in Tours. From the Tourist Office, we took the van to start our tour of the Chateaus of France.
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| This is Clos Luce, the Chateau where Leonardo da Vinci died. It has many of his incredible inventions inside of it. |
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| This was his workshop where he started his paintings, sketches, and designs for his inventions. |
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| This is a lifesize model of his most famous painting "the Mona Lisa". |
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| The is Chateau Chenonceau, considered the most beautiful Chateaus in all of France. |
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| Baba in front of a house at Chateau Chenonceau. |
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| The walkway to Chateau Chenonceau |
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| This is a building in front of the Tintin Chateau, Chateau Cheverny. |
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| The same family has lived at this Chateau for 700 years, and they use these dogs for hunting game in their forest. |
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| Chateau Cheverny |
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| This is a picture from Tintin of Chateau Cheverny. as you can see, the Chateau in Tintin is based o Chateau Cheverny. |
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| Chateau Chambord |
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| Strange cubelike trees at Chateau Chambord |
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| This is my dinner of pig cheek risotto. |
Charlie - I would be hungry after that tour as well. Beautiful photos and thank you for pointing out the highlights!
ReplyDeleteCharlie:
ReplyDeleteBeen enjoying the blog! Great pictures and lots of details about food - our favorite thing to think/read about. E&I had creme brûlée at lunch yesterday to honor you & Babs ;).
What are you liking about the England & France? How would you compare them? London & Paris as major international cities?
Looking forward to the next entry. Bises,
D
Charlie, You are bringing back all kinds of great memories-- we did a similar trip with the boys a few years ago. I love seeing your pics and am v. impressed with just how much the two of you are doing. Wow! xoxoxo Amelia
DeleteNice work Charles! As Amelia said, we were roaming those same byways maybe 5 or 6 years ago and it definitely brings back great memories. We had thought about taking the overnight boat to St. Malo, but trained it from London to Paris instead, and drove down through the Loire from there. Those are some pretty impressive houses I have to say... I shoulda been pre-revolutionary French royalty I tell ya, but I swear we have better patisserie now if it's any consolation...
ReplyDelete(Mom here, from Max's computer) I'm sorry to say that pig cheek risotto sounded more delicious than it looks! I love how adventurous you are with food these days. Keep enjoying!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I love the Tintin image next to your photo of the actual chateaux. I also love the image of all of those lazing dogs -- after the momentary startle of thinking that they were all dead, I couldn't help but laugh outloud (at them, at myself).
DeleteCharlie, you say that Chateau Cheverny has been in the same family for seven hundred years. Gee, they must be pretty old. Just kidding. You also say they have dogs that hunt game in their forest. It must be nice to have your own private forest. Even Robin Hood had to share Sherwood Forest with the Sheriff of Nottingham. I guess the way you hold onto a place like Chateau Cheverny for 700 years is by going with the world's flow. In the 16th century, for example, the family probably owned a fleet of privateers that preyed upon British shipping. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries they made uniforms and maps for Napoleon and his soldiers. In the mid-19th century it was railroads, and, in the 20th, Middle Eastern oil and Renault automobiles. Today the lady of the house probably has her own software company, and her husband, well--what else?--he's living off his investment in "Hamilton."
ReplyDelete