Chambord and Chenonceau

Chambord

Today we spent the morning doing a tiny bit of shopping near our hotel in Tours. It’s a beautiful town with lots of pedestrian streets. There was a sale at Printemps! I did try on one dress, but not my style. It’s amazing how restrained you can be when you know if you buy anything, you have to carry it with you on your bike from now on!

We also tried the McDonald’s directly across the Plaza from our hotel. Mostly curious about their menu. They had the items you’d expect, with the addition of the possibility of an order of a selection of three tiny pastries (dry and overcooked). Also, their “McGriddles” weren’t sandwiches, but smaller versions of the pancakes used on those sandwiches. Oh, and the coffee is immeasurably better. You order and pay at a kiosk (in multiple languages) and they bring it to your table.

We then went back to the Office of Tourism and reserved the last 2 spots on a minivan taking people to Chambord and Chenonceau. Those are the top two “must see” castles in the Loire Valley. They also are a good distance from the Loire, and therefore from the EuroVelo trail, which made splurging on a tour van well worth it! Neither of these castles were really militarily important, but both are repleat with history and contain many antiquities. Chenonceau is the one everyone says you just must see and it did not disappoint. You can easily imagine the royal intrigue and tragedy that happened there.

The weather was rainy, but we really got lucky with the timing and avoided most of the rain while we were in the van or in the castle. Right now the forecast looks good for the rest of the week! We are planning to only go to Amboise tomorrow. There are 2 places to see there and then we will play it by ear. Blois is on the route, but not sure if we’ll stop there or not.

My go-to souvenir is a keychain. They are super small, inexpensive, and easy to carry. I made a cork display board I put them on at home. I also currently use it for necklaces, but with all the new castle keychains, I may have to remove some necklaces!

It’s late, so I’ll let the pictures tell the rest.