First Day of Castles

On our trip to the Loire Valley, we visited a lot of castles. They are actually called chateaux. (chateau is singular) There are a lot in the Loire Valley. One map has 38 listed.

Ussé. The original Sleeping Beauty castle. It inspired the story. We didn't actually go into this one, but I'm glad we went to see it.


Soccer player and sign. You'll never guess which chateau we're visiting here.


The 'Love Gardens'. Each section represents a different kind of love: tender love, tragic love, passionate love and fickle love.


Chateau de Villandry


Eating lunch in the square in Tours.


Chenenceau from the entrance.


Some friends in Catherine de Medici's garden



You can see the initials of Henri and Catherine de Medici on one of the many fireplaces.


Chenenceau from upstream


A view from Diane de Poitiers Gardens


Caryatids


The pictures are grouped by chateau, so first I list the castle and then the pictures that happened there.
We spent the night back in Tours, a cute little town. The town square is really beautiful, you can see it in the lunch picture. A few of us went to a little creperie for dinner and had omelettes. They were so good! And then of course crepes for dessert. I went to bed really early this day, I was so exhausted from traveling!