Day 2 - The Loire Valley - a Chateau and a Wine Cave

A hearty breakfast was followed by loading up the car with supplies for our country adventure and then heading out of Paris and to the Loire Valley.  It was a few hours drive into the countryside and some really lovely, small and quaint villages.  We reached the Loire River and then traveled along the banks viewing the towns and their chateaus.

Our home for the next three nights was a mobile home in a family oriented holiday park.  It was 36' Z 12" and still offered three bedrooms (a bit small), two showers, and a nice kitchen, salon/dining area, as well as a terrace with BBQ.  The park offered a huge pool and loads of family oriented activity...and it was crowded.  At $104 a night for five people, who can complain!  Checking in was interesting as the man responsible for giving us the keys was not answering his cell or texts.  Thankfully one of the sale staff at the resort knew where he lived and tracked him down.  He showed up in a stupur, a bit loaded we guessed, and it all added to the adventure of relocating to a new home every few days and finding a new adventure.  We settled in for the night we a great meal and a good sleep...hot again and no air conditioning...LOL.

Ivan had done his homework and our first day in the Loire Valley was touring a fabulous chateau. The Château de Chenonceau was built by Francios I and was the home of Catherine de Medici. It sits on a island in the middle of the Cher River and is surrounded by dense forest and beautiful gardens. 

We each received an audio tour and went off on our seperate ways.  Touring the castle was unique.  All of the rooms are full restored and the vintage furniture, tapestries, and art were stunning.

Another grand kitchen!

Views of the garden from the roof terrace.

Misters were available.  It was a really hot day.

The tree is a rose.  Look at the size of the trunk.

The English gardens were huge and pristine.

During the war much of the castle was used as a hospital.

The wine cellar.

The farm area.

Fabulous herb and veggie gardens.

This hedge is a full grown apple tree trained to run horizontal to the ground.

Every other "tree" was a differetn fruit.  Here apple and pear entertwine.

We drove through several small villages along the Loire River before reaching the Troglo wine cave.

The caves date back to the 1400s and were a source of limestone to build those castles.

Water from a nature spring used in making the wine

And then the tasting.