Two days, four castles!

Hello lovely readers! I just returned from a delightful weekend in the Loire Valley, a region known as the "Valley of the Kings" because of its abundance of chateaus! My program organized a two-day trip based in the city of Amboise that turned out to be an exhausting but very fun outing. We had to meet at the train station at 7am, which meant that I had to wake up at 5am. Really fun. After a 2-hour train ride during which all 17 girls were completely passed out with iPods in ears, we arrived in Amboise. The town was very small and very touristy, obviously based around its two famous castles. After refueling at a neighborhood cafe with a cafe creme and waffle with whipped cream (the French gaufre is a lot lighter than a Belgian waffle we eat at home, and a common snack), a few friends and I toured the Chateau Clos-Luce, unremarkable except for the fact that Leonardo da Vinci spent the last 3 years of his life there! The chateau is full of models of his inventions and the extensive grounds have a trail that leads to large models like his helicopter apparatus, as well as a play structure we took full advantage of :) We took refuge from the chilly fog in a cafe and I had the BEST soup I've ever eaten! It was just called "vegetable soup" but it was absolutely delicious and with crusty bread made the most amazing winter lunch. The four of us split an incredible caramel and creme brulee ice cream sundae and called the meal a success! After lunch, the group met up to tour the Chateau d'Amboise. Unfortunately, the majority of the original castle was destroyed by wars and neglect, so only the king's quarters and the chapel remain. There was a roaring fire stoked in the giant fireplace inside the cold stone building, so it was a great place to stand and listen to the tour guide :) After using our free time to nap, we had dinner as a group and then returned to our beds to rest up for the next day of touring! Breakfast at the hotel and then onto a charter bus to the Chateau de Villandry. The chateau was impressive, but the gardens were absolutely amazing. We wandered around admiring the incredible geometric patterns and colors that are obviously painstakingly cared for, and to our surprise the fog lifted and we could even take off our coats!

Finally fall!

Another fantastic lunch (and coffee) and we were off to visit Chateau d'Usse. It was the inspiration for the author of The Sleeping Beauty, so we were all very excited to see it in person! The outside was absolutely beautiful, the image of a fairy tale castle. However, the tower and the chateau were very classily decorated with mannequins wearing costumes representing the progression of the story, from the evil fairy standing over baby Aurora to the prince kissing her in the top room of the tower. It was SO tacky and everyone walked out shaking their heads at the ridiculous scenes we had just witnessed. So sad :( We caught the train back and arrived home around 9pm - quite a full weekend! Tenny and I were especially joyful to realize that our landlady had taken pity on us and turned on the heat for the building! Hurrah! Today I spent a great morning walking rue St. Michel in search of the perfect pair of tall gray boots and good French conversation. I stopped in our neighborhood boulangerie (we just call it "ours" now) and had a great chat with the friendliest French (or any nationality) person I've ever met about my weekend - he agreed with me about the creepy mannequins at Chateau d'Usse :P After picking up my regular loaf of whole-grain bread, I stopped in every one of the numerous shoe stores in search of my prize, practicing my shoe vocabulary along the way. I am apparently a borderline freak of nature because of my feet; French shoes do not come in any sizes bigger than a 41, which is my size. When I tried on 40s and said they were too small, the sales lady looked absolutely incredulous! I finally found a pair at the last store on the street and had a long conversation with the sales girl about choosing them (and justifying the price...). It was a lot of fun and I will definitely try to have "unnecessary" friendly conversations at every available opportunity! Also, please enjoy these photos from Eglise (church) St. Severin, Notre Dame, St. Germain-des-pres and St. Sulpice. I had a fabulous 3+ hour walk by myself last Friday when I took a self-planned tour of the larger historic churches in the area and ended with a yummy salted caramel and chocolate mousse tart from a famous (translation: expensive) Japanese patisserie that's consistently voted one of the best in the city. A delicious end to a very nice day with myself :)

NOTRE DAME - biggest, most famous and my absolute favorite church in Paris

ST. SEVERIN - my favorite "undiscovered" church

I loved the description behind this pillar - apparently it's supposed to show the Tree of Life, emphasizing the life-giving and redemptive aspect of the crucifix, not Jesus' death on it