Cinderella's Castles

Tours France

August 1st-3rd

The trip to Bayeux was quick but memorable and we were now on to our next adventure. This portion of the trip was going to be fly by night excursions because we needed to make it from Northern France to Southern Spain within 9 days and we still had 4 places to stop along the way. We had to go back to Paris to switch trains for Tours. Since we were experts at Paris we knew how to take the metro to the other station and how to read the train schedule. Other than our backpacks you would never have known we were tourists as long as we kept our mouths shut.

The ride to Tours was about 2 and a half hours and when we arrived we were happy to see the information booth right away. Unfortunately it was not the general information booth but a tour guide company disguised as the information booth. Great marketing on his part. Not only did we get directions for our hotel but we were hook line and sinkered into signing up for a tour of the Chateaus. The day was perfect, sunshine but a cool breeze and we only had a two minute walk to our hotel. It was literally right behind the train station and aptly named Terminus. More important we had a real bathroom.

The next morning we met up with the tour guide bus and headed to the chateaus. We went and saw two one known for its gardens called Villandry and the other called Chinon which is owned by the Country of France after it went into foreclosure. (seems like the economic crisis is hitting all housing markets!!) The gardens at Villandry are designed using the French Parterre style (I learned from Roby). Although it is not his favorite style for he prefers a more organic flow instead of the formal design he was still amazed by the gardens and details. The vegetable garden was perfect and our favorite section was the sun garden. It had brightly colored flowers throughout and an abundance of different grasses. The layout of the gardens had fountains throughout and terraces for different viewing angles. A truly incredible site. You must take a look at the photos much too difficult to describe.

After a bit of site seeing we figured out how to get bicycles and decided to be adventurous and ride to the Chenonceux Chateau a quick 12 mile ride through the countryside. This ride was going to require some good navigation skills because the trail along the Cher River was not a direct route. Many portions of it went off track and we would have to ride through town streets and highways. The first few minutes tested us because we could not figure out how to get from the highway down to the trail. After some frustration we realized the only way down was to carry our bikes down a set of cement stairs. Why would they put a pathway from the roadway that would be too logical. Once on the trail it was beautiful. In fact it was a world heritage site because of the reclamation of the wildlife area. We had cool breezes, a view of the river and the most quintessential French village homes in idealistic French neighborhoods. We were riding in a fairytale. With such a beautiful ride we did not realize we had traveled 12 miles. Upon arrival we were stunned by the enormous castle at the end of the double tree-lined path. This chateau was frequently visited by King Louie. You could easily see why the rich and famous of France and England depending upon who was in power at the time. You had the river, green rolling hills and cool weather.

Our visit took longer than expected and we were running out of daylight to ride home so we figured we would take the train back to Tours. The train never arrived which was unusual for France. Thankfully a German lady who know how to speak French called the train company and they informed her that the train was not coming because a man had thrown himself under the train and was blocking the line. The German couple also had bikes so the four of us set out for Amboise a small town about 4 miles away. We were excited because we were now going to get a tour through the wine country without having to pay for it. No cars in site we had the country road to ourselves flowing through the hills of grapevines and beautiful scenery. The German couple led the way which was a godsend because maneuvering through Amboise turned out to be a bit tricky. With minutes to spare we all made the train. Along the way we had a great conversation with them and told them they had a free place to stay in Phoenix for getting us back to civilization.

Luck seems to be on our side lately.