Chateau de Chenonceau

Our weekend in the Loire Valley was great fun! I could bore you all with the 96 photos that I took but instead I’ll just show you the best bits.
We arrived in Tours airport at about lunchtime and caught the bus in to the centre of town and from there walked about 15-20 mins to our hotel (a little too far from the station and centre of town than I had realised when I booked it… but I guess travelling is about learning).
We dumped our things in our shoebox room… and walked back to the station to catch the train to the Chateau de Chenonceau, which is about 20 mins north east of Tours.
Chateau de Chenonceau was originally purchased in 1512 by Thomas Bohier but became a Royal Place in 1533 when Henry II married Catherine di Medici. It was Henry II’s lifelong mistress, Diana de Poitiers, though who was given the palace and only after his death did Catherine force Diana out and take back ownership. Henry III (Catherine’s son) and his wife Louise de Lorraine later made the palace their own in 1575 and it was these 5 women’s influences that made the Chateau the graceful building it is.

The palace and the surrounding gardens were just magnificent. Almost out of a fairy tale. We spent our afternoon wandering through the many rooms of the chateau and exploring the gardens and then took one of the rowboats out on to the river. On our way back to the station we stopped to try out the maze in the gardens (a little too easy – or we were to tall as we could see our way through over the top of the hedges…) and the visited the chateaus flower and vegetable gardens which were full of bright flowers and fresh fruit and vegetables ready to eat.

That night we had dinner in Tours in a cafe on the main shopping street and you'll never guess but.... I had a schnitzel - yes in Franch and the first thing i had was a schnitter! hehehe - boy was it good!
I'll update the next day after work tomorrow - so chack back for more photos
Thanks for all the emails i've gotten - it's lovely to know whats happening at home. Miss you all!
Cherry x x x