Castles and Heat

Today we went to the Loire Valley to see Castles. They were all lovely. It was also the hottest day in the Paris calendar. And the French don't believe in AC. The Sun was punishing. BUT, the Castles were truly fairy tale lovely. We went to Chenenceau http://www.chenonceau.com/media/fr/index_fr.php, then we had a lovely lunch at a typically french (read: nothing vegetarian) restaurant, where Gwen loved the chicken. After lunch it was off to Cheverny, http://www.chateau-cheverny.fr/ Which was a VERY happy surprise for me because this castle is The castle in the Tin-Tin comic books! And it had an awesome Tin-Tin exhibit that was interactive and very fun! Then it was Chambord, http://www.chambord.org/ Which was exquisit and HUGE.

But my favorite was Cheverny, not just because of the Tin Tin link, but simply because of it's flow. Imagine this, someone still owns it, and lives in it with their family. It has been passed down for generations since the 1300's. It has obviously been renovated a few times over the years! It is famous for it's hunting hounds, and has been a favorite of royalty for dogs since the middle ages. They still breed and raise them, and have some 90 dogs in residence.

When I asked Gwen which she liked best, she said "all of them", so i'll call that a successful day!