Visiting Tours and Chenconceau

Over the weekend, N and I made a semi-spontaneous trip to Tours to visit the city and see the nearby Chateau Chenonceau. N had asked me last weekend if I had ever been there, and if not, was I interested in going. I was all too eager to see a new place, so away we went! We hopped on the train on Saturday morning and changed trains in Tours to get to Chenonceau just after midday. 

Chenonceau is an absolutely beautiful castle that was built across the Cher river in the early 15th century. The site of the current chateau has a much longer history, with other, smaller chateaux existing and then being destroyed in that location from the 12th century. WOW. Can I tell you again how utterly amazing France is?!?

The woods and grounds in which the chateau is situation are lovely! Even though it's early April, not much was in bloom in this area, but we enjoyed the scenery even with bare trees and sporadic bursts of flowers. 

The interior of the chateau was incredible!! Such opulence in the sculptures, furnishings, paintings, and small details. And so much gold leafing, too! I would have LOVED to have seen the place in its medieval hay-day; imagine attending a ball in all of your finery in the great hall that is built right over the river??

The Louis XIV Living Room

The fireplace in Diane de Poitiers' bedroom

The Gallery- the windows looked out over the river.

We spent some time inside the chateau admiring the architecture and the general splendor of the interior before leaving the park for a quick picnic lunch near the parking lot. Then, it was back into the grounds to see the various gardens and try our hand at the hedge maze. It wasn't hard at all, as the hedge was only 5 ft. tall, but I guess if you were only 4 ft. 10 in. tall in 1480, it would have been rather difficult! :)

The caryatids next to the small hedge maze in the gardens.

While walking around the gardens, one was afforded some fabulous views of the entire chateau and its span of the river. The whole area was just begging for visitors to take photos!

With N- What a great adventure buddy!

Isn't it gorgeous?

Medieval model

Once we finished exploring the chateau, we walked around the tiny town of Chenonceaux for a bit before catching the train back to Tours and checking into our AirBnB accommodations. The gal who was lending us her place for the night and her boyfriend were very welcoming! N and I got settled in, headed out to have dinner in the Old Town, went to a nearby bar for a drink, and received a text from our host inviting us to get drinks with her, her boyfriend, and some of her colleagues. We were thrilled to have a chance to hang out with French people, speak French, and enjoy the city's nightlife and wound up having a most excellent and very late evening with their group. It was awesome!

We had a lazy start to our Sunday. In addition, it was sunny and slightly warm outside, so that made us feel even lazier! We ventured back into the Old Town and found pastries for breakfast, and then on to Place Plumereau to enjoy a cafe creme au terrace while people watching.

Sunday morning coffee in Place Plumereau - lovely!

Next, it was off to discover more of the city! We saw several cathedrals, both intact/functioning and in ruins/cordoned off, we wandered through the Musee de Beaux-Arts (thank goodness it was the 1st Sunday so it was free to get in!), and had a picnic lunch on the promenade that goes along the banks of the Loire. We walked A LOT and really got a good sense of the main part of town. 

This awesome monster statue was randomly placed
in one of the squares in the Old Town.

We also spent a few minutes playing on a playground along the Loire.
I was definitely briefly back in my childhood. :)

In the afternoon, we headed back to the apartment to clean up and return the key to our new French friend/host, and then we moseyed our way to the train station and took some more photos before heading back to Nantes. The area around the train station was under a lot of construction, but it was still beautiful. There were some young cherry trees in bloom in the square in front of the station that I enjoyed.

N and I were both exhausted and had sore feet by the end of the day, but we had a fun time on our weekend adventure. I'm really glad we went! I would love to someday visit more of the chateaux along the Loire. There are so many gorgeous ones to see! This part of France is full of so many wonderful surprises.