Loire Valley

The Loire Valley was probably my favorite part of the trip. I always pictured the French countryside with beautiful buildings, lots of flowers, breathtaking views, and air so crisp and refreshing you would never want to leave. I was exactly right. Our first stop was at the Chateau de Selles Sur Cher where we had a wonderful wine and cheese tasting. The first thing I noticed when we walked in was the giant Sequoia tree - I was shocked to see one in France! About 10 years ago, I went to Sequoia National Park in California where I saw thousands of Sequoia trees, the fact that I saw one in France was so cool!

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We sampled one white wine and two reds, each was paired with a cheese that was 3 weeks aged, 6 weeks aged, and 9 weeks aged. The first bite of cheese I took I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs like I just won the gold metal at the Olympics - it was that good. So good that it should be illegal, oh wait - it is. Both the Chateau owner and cheese expert were wonderful and very knowledgeable and they complimented each other wonderfully - just like wine and cheese! We had some time to walk around the grounds, then we were back on the bus. I didn't realize how strong the wine was until we were on the bus and our tour guide made an announcement on the microphone - I perked up faster than a whack-a-mole.

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The following day we visited my favorite place - the Chateau de Chenonceau. On the way we saw lots of hot air balloons which was very picturesque with the morning sunlight glistening through. Everything about the Chateau was exquisite - I couldn't believe the beauty I was witnessing. We were one of the first people there which was nice to be able to take our time around the gardens and inside the Chateau. I absolutely loved the flower arrangements they had - all of the flowers are grown in their garden and once a week, 3 employees put the arrangements together so the flowers are always fresh. All of the furniture on all 4 floors of the Chateau was the original furniture and I was shocked to see it was still in great condition. 

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The Chateau was in pristine condition, and the detail was out of this world. I had some time to walk through the maze (luckily it wasn't too hard to navigate), and the gardens which also had donkeys! We had the rest of the day free to wander around Amboise - I did a little shopping and caught up on laundry, my travel journal, and took some time to reflect on the incredible days we have had so far