Saturday, April 27
Most of today was spent in the car with a final destination of Tours.  We were on the road by 9:30, Dave, Andrew, and Grandpa in one car, and Amy, Michael, and Grandma in the van.  We drove until about 12:30 when we stopped at a McDonald's for lunch and let the boys play in the play land.  Then we were off again until 4:30, when we arrived at the hotel in Tours.  We took the boys swimming in the pool and then ate at the hotel restaurant.  The meal was ok but the waiter was very friendly and helpful.  It was a long day so we all went to bed early.
 
Sunday, April 28
After breakfast in the hotel, we were off to see a Chateau that I have wanted to see since high school, Chenonceau.  WOW!!  I still can't believe I was actually there.  What a sight.  This castle is built over the Cher river.  We were free to wander in the chateau, which had period furniture throughout.  There were many interesting rooms with very intricate wood and tile work.  It is amazing how much work went into building these castles.  For instance, when Henry VII moved in, he had the chateau completely redone.  It was personalized right down to the H's and CC (for Catherine DeMenici, his mistress) designed into the tile or tapestries or woodwork in every room.
 
The chateau is flanked by two large gardens.  The one on the right was designed by the mistress of King Henry VII.  The mistress lived in Chenonceau until the king died.  The queen then kicked her out and designed her own garden, the one on the left.  We also learned that during World War I, the long hall crossing the river was converted to a hospital.
 
From Chenonceau, we went to see Chambord.  This castle was built by Francois I (remember him?  We met him in Cognac.) as a hunting lodge.  It is situated on 30,000 acres of forest, of which only 3,000 are open to the public.  When it was finished it took 17,000 horses to move all of his luggage and entourage into the castle.  All that for a hunting lodge!!  The main attraction for us was the double helix staircase in the center.  A regiment of soldiers could go up one side and another come down without ever meeting.  We split up and climbed to the second floor on separate staircases, waving to each other.  It was fun.  We also enjoyed walking along the terraces on the roof.  This chateau was also personalized.  There were F's and salamanders (he put these on his shield) everywhere; on the ceiling, on the doors, in the tiles on the floors, and all over on the walls outside.
 
That was enough for one day, so we picked up a pizza and ate in the room before an early bed.
 
Monday, April 29
This morning we were up early to get an early start on the castles of the day.  We started of at Chateau Usse'.  This is the cathedral that inspired the author of Sleeping Beauty.  There are many spires on the turrets, so it really does look like sleeping beauty's castle.  We were allowed to wander around the grounds before we took a tour (in French) of the castle itself.  There was a lot of period furniture as well as many mannequins wearing period costumes.  The tour was very interesting.  One thing that we learned was that certain chateaux had to have a room prepared for the king at all times, in case he "dropped by."   The king never stayed in this chateau, but his room was always ready.  No one ever slept there.  There has been a carry over though.  The prefecture in each major city today has to have a room that is prepared for the president at all times.  Very strange.
 
After the tour, we were allowed to go up in one of the turrets and follow the story of Sleeping Beauty.  There were different rooms set up with various scenes from the story.  Our favorite was the one with Maleficent cursing the new baby, although the prince waking her was also very nice.
 
We ate some sandwiches at an outdoor cafe until a quick rainstorm blew through.  We missed getting wet, but only by a few seconds.
 
Since the rain only lasted for a few minutes (heavy though), our next stop was at the Gardens of Villandry.  The chateau was not very interesting, but the gardens were spectacular.  They were traditional French gardens, very structured and great care taken to blend color and texture.  Wait 'til you see the pictures!!  Our favorite stops were the playground (slides and see-saw) and the hedge maze.  We had a lot of fun in the maze and felt a little like Harry Potter.  Michael's favorite was the fish that swam in the moat around the castle.  He really wanted to swim with them.
 
We ate dinner at a local bakery, sandwich shop (with very friendly and helpful staff), tried to go swimming but there was a water aerobics class being taught so we did baths instead, and went to bed.  It was a long day.
 
Monday, April 30
After sleeping in some, we packed up our suitcases and headed off to Paris.  We had two stops along the way though.  The first was another chateau in the Loire Valley, Amboise.  Unlike the other chateaux we had seen this one was in a city. After some very tight spots with the van, we found a parking spot and walked to the chateau.  The first interesting thing that we saw was Leonard De Vinci's grave.  He spent the last four years of his life here, at the request of Francois I (him again!!).  Then we took a self-guided walking tour of the castle.  There was one spot on the roof where 2,000 Protestant traitors were thrown over the edge and hung.  They were left there for a while to deter any further uprisings.  This chateau also had many interesting gargoyles.  We had fun taking pictures of many of them.  Perhaps the most interesting story at this chateau was that Charles VIII hit his head on a low door and died later that night as a result.  What an embarrassing way for a King to die!!
 
From Amboise, we headed to Chartes to see the Cathedral Notre Dame de Chartes.  This cathedral has some of the most beautiful stained glass of any in the world.  The detail in the windows is amazing.  And there is a blue in the glass called Chartes blue.  It is very vibrant.  We also enjoyed the sculptures around the choir stalls depicting the life of Christ, from the birth of the Virgin Mary to the revelation.  Chartes also has a labyrinth laid in the middle of the floor.  It was covered with chairs, but you could see the path winding along the floor.
 
We unfortunately arrived at the outskirts of Paris in time for rush hour, so there were some complications trying to find our hotel, including my car being punched by an angry French man in a truck.  We found it eventually (after stopping at a different Holiday Inn first to ask directions.  The poor girl at the desk had just finished giving directions to a man in Spanish when we walked up for help.) and unpacked the cars just in time for dinner.  Hopefully we will all sleep in tomorrow before heading to Versailles.  We will be avoiding Paris due to the expected political demonstrations.  We will continue to keep you updated often.