I PROMISED CASTLES, SO HERE ARE THREE FROM THE LOIRE VALLEY
This one is called Chenonceau. It's the one on the water.
This one's Chambord -- it's the big one that I want for my birthday (plz?):
This is an impressive stairwell.
This is the view looking up the stairway.
A part of the "Made in Chambord" exhibit in the chateau.
OKAY, now this one's Amboise. It's the one with Leonardo Da Vinci's tomb and Roman ruins (i think)...
That's Thierry walking in front of the chateau.
I looked through every single keyhole I passed in every castle. Always curious.
I am woman. Hear me roar. Well, kind of.
Amboise, the city.
We went from Chenonceau to Chambord, and then I whined about how I wanted to see Amboise because my program was going to take a day trip to see it (but I wanted no part in this 7am-8pm day trip). Amboise is close to Chenonceau, so we had to backtrack to get there, but Thierry didn't seem to mind. On the way, something on his car's dashboard started to beep and flash. When I asked what was wrong, he told me that he was out of fuel and that we had maybe thirty minutes worth of gas left in the tank.
I started to freak out, because I hadn't noticed any gas stations and it seemed to me as though were were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by flat green farmland. I imagined the car stopping in the middle of the road, Thierry getting out and walking miles and miles to find gas, as I sat in the car and explained in nervous French what had happened to a police officer. I don't know, I was panicking a little. Thierry remained calm. And we found a gas station within twenty minutes. Parfait.