And, it was totally worth it! First, let me say that I have really lucked out with my host family - when I mentioned I needed to bring a picnic lunch on Saturday, Philippe bought me a salad, drinkable yogurts, and some chips to take with me. And, knowing I had to be at Opera by 6:30 am Saturday, he offered to drive me. Paris is beautiful when it is quiet and abandoned. Driving into the city, we saw people wandering home from nightclubs that often close around 4 or 5 am (when the metro starts running again). I arrived at the bus with 5 minutes to spare, made my way into a seat and struck up conversation with some of the folks sitting around me.
I didn't know anyone on the trip, but it was a good deal (125 Euros for entrance to three castles, overnight accommodations, breakfast Sunday, and the bus ride) and it was a place I really wanted to go (thanks to my grandpa sending me a newspaper article about the castles of the Loire Valley before I went). And, I'm so glad that I opted to go. Being pretty outgoing, I chatted with the four people sitting in front of and behind me - they were all students studying abroad for the semester from the U.S.
In all, about 56 people were on the excursion - many students and then also professionals working in Paris. Over the course of the two days, I had conversations with a lot of people and connected with a couple of people more deeply. And, of course, the Maine connections continued to pop up: the dad of one of the students studying in France is from Maine and one of the participants is a Colby grad.
The trip was great and I took over 250 pictures! Obviously, I can't post them all here, but many of them are on my Facebook page, so take a look there and feel free to friend me if you haven't already.
Saturday, it was cold! Even with a hat, gloves, scarf, and multiple layers, my feet were numb by the time we finally made it to our hotel in Blois. And, though we don't really have snow in Neuilly-Plaisance, I got my fill on this trip.
Our first stop of the day was Cheverny - this castle inspired the one in the Tintin series of bandes desinees (comic books) and the movie. It is a privately owned castle built in 1624 - 1630 - the original owner was Henri Hurault and it was opened to the public in 1914. We received a guided tour (I opted for the tour in English - I wanted to make sure I understood everything) and our guide was great. The building is made out of limestone that is designed to get whiter over time and therefore never needs restoration.
After Cheverny, we headed to Chambord. There, we received audio-guides and were let loose to explore for several hours. It was beautiful, but so so so cold. I honestly wanted to cry because I was so cold, but there wasn't really anything I could do about it. Thankfully, there were two fires going in the castle, so every 15 minutes or so, we warmed up for a few minutes before venturing into another room.
Chambord (built from 1519 - 1547 and never fully completed) has the reputation as being one of the largest and most beautiful castles in the region. It is unknown who actually designed the castle, but some think it was Leonardo DiVinci.
We left Chambord at 5 and headed to Blois, where we were spending the night. We were randomly assigned roommates (3 to a room), which was a little awkward, but since I didn't know anyone before going on the trip, it was to be expected. At 7:30 we met up to head to dinner. A group of 5 of us chose a little Lyonnais restaurant to eat at and it was wonderful. I chose a prix fixe menu and for 31 Euro I got an appetizer, entree, dessert, and wine. We were told to try seafood since it is a specialty of the area, so I had escargots and mushrooms in a yummy butter sauce for my entree (appetizer), a mille feuille with salmon and cod (thin layers of pastry) for my plat (entree), and a dense chocolate cake surrounded by creme anglais for my dessert. We also ordered a bottle of local wine, which was okay, but not my favorite. It was very mild and I think I would have preferred something more full-bodied, but I'm glad we tried the regional fare.
After dinner, Kristen (the one who went to Colby) and I found a local restaurant and grabbed a glass of wine (a very yummy 2005 Bordeaux) before heading back to the hotel for the night.
Somehow, between Saturday night and Sunday morning, I managed to lose my hat. But, in preparation for the cold, I wore my running tights under my jeans, put on all three pairs of socks that I had, and wore 2 long-sleeved shirts and a fleece. Thankfully, it was a bit warmer on Sunday (and less windy), so I made do by wrapping my scarf around my head when I got chilly. Sunday morning we headed to Chenonceau which was built between 1515 and 1521. This was my favorite stop of the weekend. We had no guided tours, so we were free to roam for about 2 hours. The grounds were huge and we spent about an hour wandering outside - there was a labyrinth, some gardens, and great views of the castle and Loire river. It was snowy, but sunny, so I surprisingly wasn't too cold. I can only imagine how beautiful it would be to come back in the summer, bring a picnic lunch, and spend the whole day there.
When we finally made our way inside, it was beautiful there too (and there was a fireplace going where we could warm up a bit). My favorite things inside were the kitchens since this was the only castle we saw that had them open to the public.
At 12:30 sharp (yeah right, there is no such thing as exact timing here in France) - more like 12:45, we headed to Amboise for the afternoon. There was nothing pre-planned for us to do - if we wanted to go to DaVinci's house we could, if we wanted to go to the castle, we could...
So, we grabbed lunch at a local restaurant (I had a great vegetable soup and a fromage beurre sandwich - they always put butter on their sandwiches - not healthy, but so good - oh, and of course a cup of coffee) and then spent the afternoon visiting the town. Kristen and I opted not to pay the entrance fees for the castle or DaVinci's mansion, so we just took pictures from the outside. We found a set of stairs that gave us an amazing view of the town and surrounding areas, bought some postcards, sampled biscuits (cookies) in a local shop - and of course purchased some, and enjoyed the sunshine that actually warmed us up.
Driving into town, we had seen a small outdoor ice rink that wasn't open - but, on our walk back to the bus, it was lively, with lots of local kids enjoying their time on the ice. Had I not just sampled about a dozen cookies, the aroma of crepes and Nutella would have won me over, but I was just too full.
Again, our prompt 5 pm departure turned into 5:20, but we were only about 10 minutes late getting back to Paris. It would have been a nice return bus ride were it not for the girl sitting in front of me (who then after our rest stop was behind me because her and her friend took our seats) talking loudly the entire 3+ hour ride.
I made my way back to Neuilly-Plaisance where dinner was waiting for me! It was a great weekend, but I was definitely glad to be "home." And, thankfully, my feet have FINALLY warmed up, as have the temperatures (I think it hit 40 today)!
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