Loire and Brittany
Last Saturday, we went to the Loire area. It was now easier for us because a friend of ours here at the office gave us a website that gives you the path to follow from one place to another. We started off with a visit to Orleans where St. Jean D'Arc won her first (and only?) major battle against the English. The place looks a little bit more modern than what we were expecting. Their Cathedral is beautiful. We saw it from afar and the first word that we uttered was "Wow!". It is a good sample of Gothic Architecture. It somewhat reminds me Notre Dame here in Paris. The only bad thing is that it was being fixed so we can't take a picture of it as a whole. We tried to look for the house of Jean D'Arc but we got lost. It seems that it is not a tourist spot or directions would have given us an idea of its relative location. After several tries, we decided to head off to Chenonceaux for our first castle of the day.
The trip to Chenonceaux took a really long time. We arrived at the Chateau de Chenonceau at around 3pm and we still have to eat out lunch. We ate dinner inside the compound of the castle. The food, although well prepared wasn't as I expected. At least the one I ordered wasn't that good. For the others, I think they enjoyed their lunch well.
We had to walk a long way to get to the castle. There is about two kilometers walk from the gate and the pathway is filled with beautifully manicured green grass and tall pine trees. There were also other big trees as well but the pine trees got our attention because they look so much like Christmas trees.
We walked towards the palace through Catherine de Medici's garden. It's a small garden (compared to Versailles) and it's good that they are able to maintain it well. The flowers in the garden is uniform in color : old rose. Thus, they look so nice when you view them as a whole. And we were able to do this because the garden is small enough. The description given to it was that it's intimate. Very apt.
Chateau de Chenonceau is impressive to behold. It's base is composed of four (or more?) arches and it's covering a small part of a lake. I think that the reason for the arches is for the water to flow continuously. I read that it stand in the exact location of an old mill. Thus, I guess the nearness to a body of water.
We visited a lot of rooms in the castle. This one is in a better state than Versailles. The rooms are well maintained although not as well if someone still lives there. I liked some of the pictures in the room and I had my pictures taken with them. This is the first castle I've been to where cameras are allowed. So, we took advantage of it.
I probably sound like a parrot already because I still prefer Windsor Castle over all the other castles I've seen (i.e. Versailles, Monaco, Chenonceau). For me, it is still the best castle. There's still nothing like it. Of course, my visit of French castles is not yet complete. This weekend, we might have the chance to visit 2 - 4 more castles and maybe I'd change my tune then.
We then head off to Tours to eat dinner. While we were there, we chanced upon another Gothic church. It's very simple but quite nice. The church has three columns and it was funny because the two side columns do not match. Usually, you would expect them to be the same but although they have similarities, closer inspection would produce a lot of differences.
We ate at an Italian restaurant in Tours. I had a Spaghetti Carbonara and it is the best one I ever had in France. I loved the Spaghetti with Salmon in Antibes but nothing compares to the food in Tours. Very, very good!
After dinner, we head off to Paris. Paris is about 3 1/2 - 4 hours drive from Tours. However, we made it in about 2 1/2 hours. Imagine how fast we were.
Then on Sunday, we then head west of Paris to the Brittany area. We were able to visit two places : Le Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo. Le Mont Saint Michel is a mountain where an abbey for the Archangel Saint Michael is built. The structure is amazing. It is a very striking sight. Part of its attraction is the fact that when the tide is high, the place is totally isolated from neighboring places because it becomes an island. We were able to park quite a far distance from it because the high tide is already over. If not, we would have had to wait until the water subsides before we can go in.
Inside, the place is a disappointment. It's so bare and there's nothing to make up for the FF40 we paid to get in. Even the view from the top is not noteworthy. Well, considering that it was an abbey, I guess we should have expected something really simple. I guess you can't ask for a place like that to be as grand as a castle.
We then head off to Saint Malo. We had to go around several times before we were able to find the centre. They have an Intramuros or a walled city there. Entering the Intramuros is like entering another place in time. It is so beautiful. An officemate recommended that place to us and we are so glad for it. We tried to visit their church but a mass was being held so we didn't have time to visit. We were able to go around the place though and it was nice. The tide at that time was low so we were able to go to a nearby island where a fortress is located.
We had dinner there and although it's already okay, it's not as good as Tours and Lisieux. The drive back to Paris is about 5 hours or more. We made it in about 4 hours or less. We were going as fast as 200 kph. Well, I didn't really know because I was sleeping. Imagine!
Ah well. Anyway, now our weekend visits are going to be neighboring places only so that we won't get tired during the next few days. It should be pretty interesting. Our Saturday will be spent in visiting churches and Sunday will be spent in visiting Castles.
The trip to Chenonceaux took a really long time. We arrived at the Chateau de Chenonceau at around 3pm and we still have to eat out lunch. We ate dinner inside the compound of the castle. The food, although well prepared wasn't as I expected. At least the one I ordered wasn't that good. For the others, I think they enjoyed their lunch well.
We had to walk a long way to get to the castle. There is about two kilometers walk from the gate and the pathway is filled with beautifully manicured green grass and tall pine trees. There were also other big trees as well but the pine trees got our attention because they look so much like Christmas trees.
We walked towards the palace through Catherine de Medici's garden. It's a small garden (compared to Versailles) and it's good that they are able to maintain it well. The flowers in the garden is uniform in color : old rose. Thus, they look so nice when you view them as a whole. And we were able to do this because the garden is small enough. The description given to it was that it's intimate. Very apt.
Chateau de Chenonceau is impressive to behold. It's base is composed of four (or more?) arches and it's covering a small part of a lake. I think that the reason for the arches is for the water to flow continuously. I read that it stand in the exact location of an old mill. Thus, I guess the nearness to a body of water.
We visited a lot of rooms in the castle. This one is in a better state than Versailles. The rooms are well maintained although not as well if someone still lives there. I liked some of the pictures in the room and I had my pictures taken with them. This is the first castle I've been to where cameras are allowed. So, we took advantage of it.
I probably sound like a parrot already because I still prefer Windsor Castle over all the other castles I've seen (i.e. Versailles, Monaco, Chenonceau). For me, it is still the best castle. There's still nothing like it. Of course, my visit of French castles is not yet complete. This weekend, we might have the chance to visit 2 - 4 more castles and maybe I'd change my tune then.
We then head off to Tours to eat dinner. While we were there, we chanced upon another Gothic church. It's very simple but quite nice. The church has three columns and it was funny because the two side columns do not match. Usually, you would expect them to be the same but although they have similarities, closer inspection would produce a lot of differences.
We ate at an Italian restaurant in Tours. I had a Spaghetti Carbonara and it is the best one I ever had in France. I loved the Spaghetti with Salmon in Antibes but nothing compares to the food in Tours. Very, very good!
After dinner, we head off to Paris. Paris is about 3 1/2 - 4 hours drive from Tours. However, we made it in about 2 1/2 hours. Imagine how fast we were.
Then on Sunday, we then head west of Paris to the Brittany area. We were able to visit two places : Le Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo. Le Mont Saint Michel is a mountain where an abbey for the Archangel Saint Michael is built. The structure is amazing. It is a very striking sight. Part of its attraction is the fact that when the tide is high, the place is totally isolated from neighboring places because it becomes an island. We were able to park quite a far distance from it because the high tide is already over. If not, we would have had to wait until the water subsides before we can go in.
Inside, the place is a disappointment. It's so bare and there's nothing to make up for the FF40 we paid to get in. Even the view from the top is not noteworthy. Well, considering that it was an abbey, I guess we should have expected something really simple. I guess you can't ask for a place like that to be as grand as a castle.
We then head off to Saint Malo. We had to go around several times before we were able to find the centre. They have an Intramuros or a walled city there. Entering the Intramuros is like entering another place in time. It is so beautiful. An officemate recommended that place to us and we are so glad for it. We tried to visit their church but a mass was being held so we didn't have time to visit. We were able to go around the place though and it was nice. The tide at that time was low so we were able to go to a nearby island where a fortress is located.
We had dinner there and although it's already okay, it's not as good as Tours and Lisieux. The drive back to Paris is about 5 hours or more. We made it in about 4 hours or less. We were going as fast as 200 kph. Well, I didn't really know because I was sleeping. Imagine!
Ah well. Anyway, now our weekend visits are going to be neighboring places only so that we won't get tired during the next few days. It should be pretty interesting. Our Saturday will be spent in visiting churches and Sunday will be spent in visiting Castles.
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