WoW!!!
Okay, I know that's not a French word but, wow, wow, wow!!!
It's early Sunday morning and I am trying to catch up on this blog. Sorry I have not personally e-mailed you, time is short and an hour on the internet is very expensive.
10/8 Took a day tour to the Loire Valley to visit three places. The first was the chateau Amboise. It was referred to in the movie Ever After (don't know if they shot it there). Pretty cool place but only some of the structures left. The chapel is where Leonardo DiVinci is buried (supposedly) so this stop was special. He spent the last 3 years of his life in Amboise on an invitation of the king who gave him his own place -- which was our next stop. The home is now privately owned and yesterday, the owner was giving a personal tour to some very rich people (some of the women wore their mink, etc) while we quietly had ours. Only 6 of us; 3 girls from Taiwan, a couple from Mexico, the driver, tour guide Pascale and myself. These tours I've been taking have been small so we ride in a van instead of those great big coaches which allows us more flexibility where we go. Anyway we strolled through his house and saw replicas of his inventions and some drawings and paintings. It was really awesome to be there. Our lunch turned out to be on his property passed the parc and back in a beautiful area on the end of the woods. The waitresses and chef (complete with sword) were dressed in costume from Leonardo's time and we were served food typical of that time as well. Sampled a local aperitif of a mint wine -- subtle and wonderful. It was surreal to sit and bask in the place where a genius once lived. The third stop was the most famous chateau in all of the Loire Valley -- Chenonceau, known as the ladies castle because mostly women inhabited this castle starting with the king's mistress who built it for her. After his death the wife (Catherine de Medici) removed her to a depressing little place and took over.
Argh, I'm running out of time here.
other highlights for the week include a day in Bruge, Belgium. Visits to several small art museums and lunch at The Grand Colbert featured in the great movie Something's Gotta Give. Met a lovely women from Aus
It's early Sunday morning and I am trying to catch up on this blog. Sorry I have not personally e-mailed you, time is short and an hour on the internet is very expensive.
10/8 Took a day tour to the Loire Valley to visit three places. The first was the chateau Amboise. It was referred to in the movie Ever After (don't know if they shot it there). Pretty cool place but only some of the structures left. The chapel is where Leonardo DiVinci is buried (supposedly) so this stop was special. He spent the last 3 years of his life in Amboise on an invitation of the king who gave him his own place -- which was our next stop. The home is now privately owned and yesterday, the owner was giving a personal tour to some very rich people (some of the women wore their mink, etc) while we quietly had ours. Only 6 of us; 3 girls from Taiwan, a couple from Mexico, the driver, tour guide Pascale and myself. These tours I've been taking have been small so we ride in a van instead of those great big coaches which allows us more flexibility where we go. Anyway we strolled through his house and saw replicas of his inventions and some drawings and paintings. It was really awesome to be there. Our lunch turned out to be on his property passed the parc and back in a beautiful area on the end of the woods. The waitresses and chef (complete with sword) were dressed in costume from Leonardo's time and we were served food typical of that time as well. Sampled a local aperitif of a mint wine -- subtle and wonderful. It was surreal to sit and bask in the place where a genius once lived. The third stop was the most famous chateau in all of the Loire Valley -- Chenonceau, known as the ladies castle because mostly women inhabited this castle starting with the king's mistress who built it for her. After his death the wife (Catherine de Medici) removed her to a depressing little place and took over.
Argh, I'm running out of time here.
other highlights for the week include a day in Bruge, Belgium. Visits to several small art museums and lunch at The Grand Colbert featured in the great movie Something's Gotta Give. Met a lovely women from Aus
posted by Paper Architect @ 1:20 AM
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