France - Loire Valley

August 31 - September 7, 2019

Loire Valley, home to numerous chateaus, one more impressive than the next. We visited several chateaus and other interesting places like Leonardo da Vinci’s last home and a petrified cave.

Day 0 - Amboise

Day 1 - Home school

Day 2 - Chateau de Chenonceau

Day 3 - Clos Luce

Day 4 - Chateau de Chambord

Day 5 - Loire and Home school

Day 6 - Chateau de Villandry

Day 7 - Drive to Dordogne

Day 0 & 1 - Amboise

Amboise is a great hub in Loire Valley, nice town center with many shops and beautiful architecture. Great place to walk around and chill.

Found our vacation rental, let's check inside.

Modern and spacious inside, nice!

A well stocked kitchen helps us save money by eating in.

There are even towel swans in the master bedroom! They must know it's my birthday!

The lounge chair in the backyard is very comfy.

Amorino, the home of ice cream flowers. We first tried it in Paris, happy to find another one in Amboise.

Traveling the world with family already, what else can I wish for for my birthday?

We opted for variety instead of a big cake for Ivan's birthday.

The girls showing off their creativity and flexibility.

Open Market on Sundays

Got some preserved sausages.

Ham stand.

Amboise, a cute town in the heart of Loire Valley with so many chateaus. We drove here from Bayeux and settled in on Saturday, and visited their open market on Sunday.

Voyagers tips: Amboise is a nice town central in the Loire valley with many great restaurants and shops, which makes it a good base. There is a small supermarket in town center, but the nearby E.Leclerc Amboise is a much better place to shop for groceries and supplies. It’s like a big Target or a Super Walmart of the U.S.. There’s also an Amazon Locker in E.Leclerc if you want to shop from Amazon France.

Day 2 - Chateau de Chenonceau

Approaching the chateau

This couple is swimming in the river around the chateau. That’s pretty crazy, the water wasn’t that clean.

Did these people really need houses this big?? It’s good to be rich.

Nice view of the river from the chateau.

A doing some cooking in the chateau.

Can you see us? This is a bowl with a copper bottom.

Three special guests showed up on the balcony. Can you tell who they are?

The forest area around the chateau is huge.

There’s even a “labyrinth”, a maze in the garden. It wasn’t very difficult though.

Interesting structure, not sure what this is for.

No one in sight once you go a bit farther from the busy paths.

Having fun with a fallen tree.

Notice how the clouds line up to reflect the shape of the garden paths.

There are two gardens this size. Very nicely manicured.

I don’t know what the girls were trying to do but it looks interesting at least.

Beautiful flowers in the garden.

View from the river.

Can M jump to the other side? Or will she fall into the river?

A small village nearby from the earlier days.

There’s a “donkey park”. Where’s Shrek?

Chenonceau, arguably the most beautiful chateau in Loire Valley. A great way to spend a relaxing day.

Day 3 - Clos Luce

Clos Luce

Leonardo da Vinci's bedroom.

This is what Da Vinci looked like.

Recreation of Da Vinci's workshop. He brought these two famous paintings and Mona Lisa with him to France.

Who has the better smile?

There's a exploratory game for kids, the girls really got into it.

Hillside view from the garden.

Lots of grapes you can pick. These are more like wine grapes though, small and sour.

The garden feels dreamy.

If there's a rock, the girls will climb it.

We had to do this... M's up.

A's turn.

Ivan as King Francis I.

Mona Lisa's... scream?

Mona Lisa gone crazy.

A spiral Da Vinci designed was supposed to act like a human-powered helicopter. I don't think this one would've worked though.

A winch that allows even kids to lift heavy stones. Time for a physics lesson!

Clos Luce - Leonardo Da Vinci’s last home was here in the Loire Valley, France. He was invited here from Italy by the French king and this house was given to him. He spent the last three years of his life here. You can see how he lived and his great inventions in his last home.

Voyagers tips: This is a good stop when you experience “chateau fatigue”. The house was nice but the various inventions and the nice garden makes it a fun visit. Bring sandwiches to picnic in the garden if you don’t want to eat at the restaurants.

Day 4 - Chateau de chambord

Chateau de Chambord

Very grand

There are these selfie mirrors, very cool!

The centerpiece of the chateau is the staircase - Two intertwining stairs go from bottom to top yet never meet.

Looking down the center of the staircase. Yup, that's A down there.

Nice view from the top.

The details of the architecture is impressive.

Shadow or skyline? Can you spot Megan and A?

M fell on a spike. Ouch!

Hall of antlers... We made that name up.

Soaking in the beauty.

Selfie time!

We rented a golf cart to explore the garden. The girls had a blast driving it. Ivan had several heart attacks.

Signature cartwheel pictures!

Chateau de Chambord, the largest chateau in Loire Valley. Built by king Francis I, incorporating many of Da Vinci’s design elements.

Day 5 - Amboise and Home Schooling

Awesome orange juicer, squeezes orange juice right in front of your eyes! We counted 17 oranges going into our 1L jug.

If you need things ordered, you can order from Amazon France and deliver it to Amazon Locker at E.Leclerc supermarket in Amboise. It was our first time using Amazon locker.

Our apartment is across the river from town center and Chateau de Amboise.

Evening view of the bridge to town center.

Beautiful sunset.

Vovray is a local wine in Loire Valley. Bubbly wine similar to champagne, but of course, it's made in Vovray instead of Champagne.

The 250ml (8.5oz) beer bottles are common here. More ideal size than 16oz.

We explored Amboise a bit more throughout the week and found some cool stuff. We also did home schooling on Day 4 here. As you can see, we give “homeschooling” a whole new meaning.

Voyagers tips: E.Leclerc Amboise is an awesome supermarket in Amboise, just a few minutes drive from town center. It’s like a big Target or a Super Walmart. It’s where we did most of our grocery shopping. It’s even got an Amazon Locker.

Day 6 - Villandry

Petrified Cave (Grottes Pétrifiantes de Savonnières-Villandry)

Chateau de Villandr

Petrified Cave (Grottes Pétrifiantes de Savonnières-Villandry)

The calcium in these running water include silica crystals and continually add shiny layers to the white formation in the caves.

This was ingenious - Make small pottery figures, leave them in these running water so calcium covers the figurines. The silica crystals in the water makes it shiny.

Instead of stalagmites and stalactites, these flowing streams just add layers. There’s are some stalactites but most are just covers.

Very interesting formations of all sizes and shapes.

Another cave has a burial ground inside. Kinda creepy.

The tour ends in (of course!) the gift shop where of all the calcified figurines and decorations.

This was impressive. The decoration is calcium that covers over the mold plate over a year or so. The details are quite impressive.

We went to a nearby picnic area for lunch before heading to Chateau de Villandry, which is only a 5min drive away.

Petrified Caves in Villandry - The calcification of the water running through these caves make for very interesting formations and a unique business opportunity.

Chateau de Villandry

The garden is it’s claim to fame here, not the chateau itself.

A model of the garden.

Unfortunately, these beautiful walkways are blocked off. I guess they don’t want tourists messing up the plants.

This garden must be a pain to maintain.

A maze in the garden that was more of a confidence booster rather than a real maze.

The grapes here are the kind used to make wine, so smaller and not very sweet. A kept complaining about the sour grapes as she popped one grape after another into her mouth.

Château de Villandry has a beautiful garden. The chateau itself is less impressive. We enjoyed the stroll through the garden. After several chateaus, we’re starting to experience “chateau fatigue”... Apparently it’s a thing in this area, it’s not just us. 😂