Thursday morning the bus arrived at 9 am in front of our Paris apartment to take our group to the Loire Valley to see the chateaux. We were glad to see the driver was Robert. He took us to the Loire Valley in 2009. He told Kelly that he doesn't drive much anymore, but when he saw the address and recognized it as a BYU group, he immediately took the job. He refuses to drive European students anymore and loves the BYU groups. He recognized Kelly and welcomed him back to France. We knew this was going to be a good trip with Robert at the wheel of his Mercedes bus. My parents and our French teacher from 2009, James, came along with the group on the trip. My parents hadn't been to the Loire Valley since 1980 when I was a student on BYU Study Abroad in Paris.
We took it easy the first day and went to only one chateau--Chenonceau.
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| Kate at Chenonceau |
Chenonceau is my favorite chateau. This picture of Kate says it all. It is built over the Cher river and was the favorite of Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henri II. But when Henri II died, his wife, Catherine de Medici made her leave for the fortress-like chateau Chaumont and Catherine took over Chenonceau.
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| With Mom, Dad and James at the Well at Chenonceau |
The chateau was filled with amazing fresh flowers everywhere we turned.
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| How do they grow such big snap dragons? |
The chateau was used during WW I as a hospital.
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| 2254 wounded were cared for during WW I |
The Cher river was a dividing line between Occupied France during WW II and Vichy France. The long gallery straddled the river and many members of the French Resistance and others were smuggled through the chateau from Occupied France to the other side.
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| Madeleine, Kate and Mary Claire in the Gallery |
Some of the girls thought Louis XIV, the Sun King, looked a bit pompous in this portrait!
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| Hillary, Ashlie, Christina and Phoebe Walk like Louis |
It was a perfect day for our first chateau. We stayed in the city of Tours and ate at the Continental Pub that evening. Kate actually ate with us rather than hanging with the students that evening. The Continental had the best chocolate mousse and creme brulée for dessert.
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| Kate, Dad and Mom at the Continental |
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| At the Continental |
And this was only the first day of our trip. We still had two more days of chateaux to visit.
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