Loire Valley

 During our time in the Loire Valley, we visited six castles. I thought that this might be too much for the kids, but we found that all of the castles were diverse enough, so no one was bored. The first castle that we visited was Chenonceau, perhaps the most famous of the chateaus. It was home of the royal women, including Catherine Medici and Diane de Poitiers. These women were the ones who protected it during wars, such as the Revolution. It spans the Cher River, which was the border of Nazi occupation during WWII. One side was on the French contolled border and the other side was under Nazi control. During the war, the castle doors would be opened and Jewish families would race in to safety and out the other side to the French. The castle was gorgeous, especially decorated for Easter. The kids loved wandering the grounds, including the maze, where they had races to see who could reach the center first, and the farm where they wandered through tulip fields and kept an eye out for the horses.







Our next stop was Chambord, a huge hunting castle for the King of France. This castle was grand, with ornate detail on the outside, but austere on the inside, lacking any furniture. In fact it was so cavernous, it was impossible to keep warm in the winter, so few royalty actually stayed long. We climbed up to the roof top to get a better view of the architecture of the chateau as well as the hunting forest in the distance. We also tried out the double helix staircase that Leonardo Da Vinci designed for his friend, the King.





After a day full or turrets and flower gardens, we made our way back to our hotel in Tours and looked forward to another day of castle hopping.