L'excursion finale à Chaumont.

Today, we visited our final castle on this trip - Château de Chaumont. This beauty was located just under 30 minutes from the Abbey. The weather cooperated quite well as we explored both the castle and the gardens. The castle was a perfect size - not too big & not too small. We got through the castle without being overwhelmed by the elaborate charm of royalty. We did learn that several rooms got destroyed in a fire, although they were still elegantly decorated. 

 Outside Château de Chaumont

 Loire Valley in background

The gardens outside were unbeliable & at some points... mind-blowing! Every single area was designed by artists to depict an emotion, meaning, theme, etc. One area depicted wind; another one used "blinding" mirrors, and yet another one used disco balls to drive the light onto the trees and leaves.

 Swing in the Gardens

We absolutely loved the one garden with those disco balls. It turns out that they also had lounge chairs where we all soaked up some rays and took in some Vitamin D. I am taking back so many ideas from these gardens for future projects. Need advice for some landscape remodeling? We have SO MANY IDEAS.

 Relaxing by the Disco Pond with my French teacher

 Disco Pond - Bringing this idea back to America

As mentioned before, the castle was not too immense. I was especially impressed by the window designs. Our French teacher said that occasionally, they light up the entire castle via candlelight & gardens at night for tourists to visit and explore. The candles in the picture reminded me of that awesome feature!

 Bedchamber inside of the castle

 Elaborate windows throughout the Castle

We only explored the jardins du festival (Festival Gardens) and skipped the vegetable gardens. We had a beautiful view of the castle during most of the exploration time in the gardens. I was greatly fascinated by one of the last gardens we visited. It mainly consisted of glass bottles both inside the ground and along the pathway.

 Castle & Garden

 Garden idea? Glass bottles!

After a gorgeous day in the gardens, we decided to get ice cream/sorbet from the café right on the grounds. They had tons of outrageously wild and unique flavors. I decided to attach the menu of flavors just so you could see what I mean. Everything from "sparkling chocolate & spice" ice cream to hibiscus rose sorbet. I decided to be very adventurous and get the violette graines d'anis (violet & anise grain) sorbet. Wow, what a different flavor!

 Wild ice cream & sorbet flavors!!

 Loradena, Nicole & moi enjoying wild sorbet drinks

Tomorrow is our French final exam. After 2.5 weeks of class with immersion French, we are being tested on numbers, directions, food, simple questions, and common words/phrases. I feel quite comfortable with the exam as it is mainly a review. I must admit though that my French teacher especially helped me with pronunciation this time around. Bonne chance!