Paris Day 5 - Loire Valley

It was an early start to what was going to be a very long day. Surprisingly there were hardly any people around when we caught the train just after 7am and no one on our platform (quite eerie)...

We caught the train to Musee d'Orsay. This is a famous museum which was a former railway station and you can look out through the clock over the River Seine and Paris... 

This was our meeting point for our day tour out to the Loire Valley. We were supposed to leave at 7.30am but our guide for the day told us the bus was stuck in traffic. (We think they swapped the large bus that was parked there for a smaller bus which came later due to only about 20 of us booked on the tour). Anyway it was freezing cold and all we could do was wait and take photos...

Very quiet at this time of the morning.

 A smaller bus finally turned up and somehow we were the last to get on and had to sit right up the back. Not normally a problem but once we got going the driver turned on  the aircon and the almost meter long vent was right above us and sounded like a jet engine. Dad was not impressed and we couldn't hear anything the tour guide was telling us. We complained but they left it on so we just had to suck it up and put up with it for the nearly 7 hours we travelled all day. Anyway we had a quick stop on our way to the first chateau...

Air con stress relief!

Our first chateau to visit was the Chateau de Chambord which is the largest chateau in the Loire Valley. It is the most recognizable chateau in the world because of its distinct French Renaissance architecture. It was being built to serve as a hunting lodge and construction took place between 1519 and 1547... 

 Everything is so large inside and it is unfurnished...

Grand central staircase

 View over the grounds...

Fine detail...

 It is surrounded by a moat...

 Back on the bus and we continued to travel through the pretty countryside to Chateau de Nitray. This is also a winery so first up was some wine tasting (on a very empty stomach). Then we had a beautiful lunch of chicken, baby potatoes and tomatoes followed  by salad and and several cheeses and bread then apple tart.

Where lunch was served.

 We then had a little tour around which included a little chapel and a pigeon homing room...

On the bus again to the beautiful Chateau Chenonceau. The walkway to the chateau was stunning and a good introduction to the gardens we were about to see...

 So many vegetables growing...

 And rows of flowers...

 The Chateau Chenoneau is positioned over the River Cher. It is know as the "ladies castle" as it was built, loved, administered and protected by women from 1513. It has many connections to French royalty and housed many Kings and Queens and mistresses...

Bridge over the river to the chateau... 

 The hallway...

 Views of the perfect gardens...

 After a nice wander around inside and wondering how they lived in such lavish and huge places and being inspired bythe  beautiful gardens it was time to walk back along the pretty road to our noisy bus...

We were a long way from Paris so we settled in for the 3 1/2 hour trip back to the Musee d"Orsay including a big traffic jam. We then had to catch the train home and eventually arrived just before 10pm. Cooked eggs for tea. A very long day.