Tours - France
We arrived at the Charles De Gaulle airport nice and early in the morning. The airport was absolutely huge, it took the plane a good 20 minutes to travel to the arrival gate after landing. And even after that, walking from the gates to the customs require going through tunnels and tunnels of escaltors!! At some point, it almost looked as though we were walking through a real life version of a huge aquarium, without all the fish and the water. While we are on the subject on flying, I just want to point out that Malaysian airline is like.. way better than EVA and air New Zealand in service!
Our first days schedule is to drive pass Paris to Tours to visit two castles. There are over 3000 castles along the river Loire, according to dad, all the old castles (chateau) has to be close to a water source so that the human waste can be dispose of easily.
Driving along this peaceful, almost enchanted path we arrived at our first destination - Chateau de Chambord.
The chateau is absolutely amazing! the exterior looks like everythign I would imagine what a chateau would be, and this one even got a bit of a hauntingly feel to it just like the caslte in 'Beauty and the Beast'. Apparently the exterior design is a blend of traditional French Renaissance and Medieval architecture. It as over 300 chimney.
Chateau de Chambord was built by King Francois I as a hunting lodge. Which meant that apart from a few game collections, the castle is almost empty because the chateau would only be decorated prior to arrival of the king. Due to the relatively early ancient in its design, the castle is absolutely freezing (despite having over 300 fireplaces).
The only interior design worth mentioned of is Da Vinci's double helical staircase, which Da Vinci specially designed for King Francois I.
The whole point of the the staircase is that whilst you can see the people from the other side of the staircase, in reality you can never meet them.
After our morning exercise around the castle, we arrived at this little cafe "Cafe du Midi" in the little town in Tours. The cafe has got a real homy feel to it, with a humourous owner.
We got to try some of the real local cheese that France has to offer!
Next up, we drove across the country side to our next destination. The country side of France is completely different to what you see in New Zealand, its old and yet peaceful, as if nothing in the world has disturbed its tranquiality since hundreds of years ago.
Our next destination was the Chenonceau Castle, which was a castle built over the river Cher. Unlike Chambord which was rarely occupied, Chenonceau was home for 6 mitresses in the past including Henry II mistresses Diana de Poitiers and Catherine de Medici and the wife of Henry II Louse de Lorraine. Each occupants has expanded/renovated it.
In the beginnng, it was just a river mill (the little building on the right), but eventually got expanded to a whole arch spanning across the river.
Due to the constant occupants in the castle, there were a lot to see within the castle, there was a chapel.
Furnitures and paintings.
A seeminly haunting stairway to the basement which would leads to a ...
fully equipped kitchen.
There is even a maze outside of the chateau.
But I guess what is most memorable about Chenonceau is the stories surrounding its occupants, like the love triangle between Henry II, Catherine and Diana,
...and the sobering widow Louise (the White Queen) for her early deceased husband, who decorated her room in complete darkness with silver paints as symbol of her tears.
And that concludes our trip around Tours, next up is Paris!!
Our first days schedule is to drive pass Paris to Tours to visit two castles. There are over 3000 castles along the river Loire, according to dad, all the old castles (chateau) has to be close to a water source so that the human waste can be dispose of easily.
Driving along this peaceful, almost enchanted path we arrived at our first destination - Chateau de Chambord.
The chateau is absolutely amazing! the exterior looks like everythign I would imagine what a chateau would be, and this one even got a bit of a hauntingly feel to it just like the caslte in 'Beauty and the Beast'. Apparently the exterior design is a blend of traditional French Renaissance and Medieval architecture. It as over 300 chimney.
Chateau de Chambord was built by King Francois I as a hunting lodge. Which meant that apart from a few game collections, the castle is almost empty because the chateau would only be decorated prior to arrival of the king. Due to the relatively early ancient in its design, the castle is absolutely freezing (despite having over 300 fireplaces).
The only interior design worth mentioned of is Da Vinci's double helical staircase, which Da Vinci specially designed for King Francois I.
The whole point of the the staircase is that whilst you can see the people from the other side of the staircase, in reality you can never meet them.
After our morning exercise around the castle, we arrived at this little cafe "Cafe du Midi" in the little town in Tours. The cafe has got a real homy feel to it, with a humourous owner.
We got to try some of the real local cheese that France has to offer!
Next up, we drove across the country side to our next destination. The country side of France is completely different to what you see in New Zealand, its old and yet peaceful, as if nothing in the world has disturbed its tranquiality since hundreds of years ago.
Our next destination was the Chenonceau Castle, which was a castle built over the river Cher. Unlike Chambord which was rarely occupied, Chenonceau was home for 6 mitresses in the past including Henry II mistresses Diana de Poitiers and Catherine de Medici and the wife of Henry II Louse de Lorraine. Each occupants has expanded/renovated it.
In the beginnng, it was just a river mill (the little building on the right), but eventually got expanded to a whole arch spanning across the river.
Due to the constant occupants in the castle, there were a lot to see within the castle, there was a chapel.
Furnitures and paintings.
A seeminly haunting stairway to the basement which would leads to a ...
fully equipped kitchen.
There is even a maze outside of the chateau.But I guess what is most memorable about Chenonceau is the stories surrounding its occupants, like the love triangle between Henry II, Catherine and Diana,
...and the sobering widow Louise (the White Queen) for her early deceased husband, who decorated her room in complete darkness with silver paints as symbol of her tears. And that concludes our trip around Tours, next up is Paris!!
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