Une surprise à Tours!

On Thursday, we anticipated that this day would be filled with packing, last minute trips to the boulangerie & superette, and a group photo shoot outside the Abbey... but we then realized that the bus was outside waiting for us. We walked up to the driver, and he notified us that we had an excursion to Tours today! Surprised as we thought it would be on Friday, we quickly (literally had 15 minutes) got ready & headed off to Tours! We were quite upset that this short notice did not allow us to have our French teacher to come with us as she is from the area and would know of every wonderful place to visit!

Our starting point was St. Gatien cathedral, which caused all of our heads to tilt upwards high into the sky! The interior was also extravagant and had lovely windows and antique charm. It reminded me of Notre Dame... minus the tourist crowd!

 Cathédrale Saint-Gatien de Tours

We had the opportunity to walk around on our own for several hours and had no castle visits in this large city. Regardless, we found the Loire river as all the castles we have visited are either on the River Cher or Loire! 

 The Loire River in Sunny Tours

After asking a worker at one of the cafes, we found what I called the "Champs Elysees" of Tours - the main hub where all of the stores, grand magasins, and patisseries/boulangeries were located. Since it was our last time in a big city, many of us picked up macarons to share with our families back home...

 Macarons 

In the midst of all the stores, we came across a place that all rang a special cord in our hearts - a store called "Michigan" which reminded us of Journey back home. It was quite comical and reminded us of where we would be heading towards on Saturday.

 I recall from high school french of reading about Galeries Lafayette, a French department store, in textbooks. I believe the one we used to read about is in Paris. I am assuming that this one is much smaller but affiliated. It is unbelievable of how many places we never visited in Paris, and I have been there twice! I guess another trip is needed to see many of "the unseen sights!"

What was extremely neat about this town was their train system in the midst of the main street. This train went quite slowly for most of the duration and watched for pedestrians making quick crosses between the "train tracks." Many of the natives were fearless of these electric trains and road their bikes right next to them!

 Train in Tours

Since the day was beautifully warm (which was a pleasant surprise compared to most of the trip), it was necessary to purchase some ice cream or sorbet. I decided to try Nougat de Montélimar because it's important to be adventurous in every aspect of a trip!

 Of course, we spotted some amazing macaroon tower creations within stores. I think more couples should consider a macaroon tower at their wedding! There are so many flavors to make them in; this might be the focus of perfecting this summer!

Tomorrow is our final full day in Pontlevoy. We are performing Act I and part of Act II of Tartuffe for our history class and having our final French class. Our journey in Pontlevoy is winding down; although we are all very excited to return home and greet our family and friends, it is going to be hard to say "Au revoir" to the Loire Valley.

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!

Deux voyages dos-à-dos!

This weekend was packed with adventures outside of Pontlevoy! Both Saturday and Sunday included day trips to castles & new towns!

First on Saturday, we started our day with an hour bus ride to Villandry. Wow... what an extravagant outside area surrounding the castle! The gardens were breath-taking & unbelievably maintained with intricate designs & flowers in bloom! It took us at least 2 hours just to walk through it all. The sunshine & perfect temperature outside complemented the day so well! 

In all honesty, the pictures are worth more than just a 1000 words! Every single shot was breath-taking and remarkable in its own way! It made perfect sense why a couple were taking their wedding photos in these gardens.

Outside Villandry Château in Gardens

 Cascading waters running through gardens

Château de Villandry & trimmed bushes

Gardens of Villandry 

We were also largely impressed by the interior of the castle. Lately, we noticed that many of the castles seemed to transform into museums with rooms sometimes even set up with movies & documents for people to view and read. At Villandry, however, the interior looked like it was "move-in ready!" We felt as though we could just live inside the castle that night & wake up to the beautiful gardens outside of the windows! Overall, we were simply blown away by the atmosphere of Villandry - both inside & out! 

 My favorite bedroom in the castle! 

 Elegant dining room with the table set

 View from bedroom

After spending a few hours in Villandry, we went to our next destination not too far away: Azay-le-Rideau. This castle was much more secluded behind lush forests. It was surrounded by water much like Chenonceau. Again, this castle seemed a little more modern than the others we saw last week. The sun even came out at the perfect time to cause the castle to cast a beautiful reflection in the water!

 Castle of Azay-le-Rideau

Château d'Azay-le-Rideau caught my attention when I discovered they had a pool table in one of the rooms! It turns out it was from the 19th century. I guess the game of billards has been a form of entertainment for quite some time & even of people in royalty. 

 

 Pool table inside Azay-le-Rideau

 The castle was a decent size, so we were able to explore many of the rooms without being overwhelmed! Every room was nicely decorated, and some even had rugs! I expected more rugs as I thought it would be a good way to keep the rooms warm. However, they believed in keeping the walls warm by using tapestries.

Inside the castle of Azay-le-Rideau

All of us enjoyed the scenic view from the outside & even spent some time soaking up the sun in the grass; it was a lovely treat compared to the last 2 weeks with rain and cooler temperatures. We finally were able to enjoy the castle grounds as a whole! The funniest part was that Azay-le-Rideau had a sign to their gardens... we looked into the entrance and quietly laughed. It was about the size of little playground & the flowers were just starting to bloom. Basically, nothing could even compare to the vast and luscious gardens of Villandry at that point!

 

Our group in front of Châeau d'Azay-le-Rideau

Then on Sunday, we visited the largest castle in the Loire Valley, Chambord! Holy cow, it was gigantic! It's one of the most recognizable castles. When you think French castles, Chambord probably comes to mind. It was so enormous that some rooms were completely vacant! They even had an artist's collection of paintings on one of the floors of the castle. François 1er built it so he could use it a "hunting lodge." This deluxe lodge was surrounded by forests where he did much of his hunting; inside was filled with the antlers of many deer. 

 

 Château de Chambord

 Deer Antler collection proudly displayed 

 Horse-drawn carriages at entrance

 Spiral staircase may have been designed by da Vinci

 Artwork by Alexandre Hollan

The architecture of this castle fascinated me the most! They strategically designed every part of this castle on a square unit grid. A center double-helix (like DNA) staircase centers the entire castle. These two helices in the grand staircase takes one up 3 stories without ever meeting. The top of the staircase is a "light house" topped with the fleur de lis at the end point. The rooms inside of the castle are very similarily designed on each floor. If you were to split each floor into quarters, they would mirror one another in design and arrangement. So much planning appears to be put into building this grand estate! 

 Woods where François did his hunting

 Top of Double-Helix Spiral Staircase

Speckled Horse

As usual, we were awestruck by the beauty and wonder that people once lived in these castles! All of them strike us as elaborate and charming in their own unique way. We are down the last few excursions this week. By this time next week, I will be back in the United States sans the castles, carriages, and crêpes. We are enjoying every moment of these final days in France!