Day 3-Loire Valley/Alps

From our hotel, it was only a short drive to the Castle of Chenonceau. This corridor of trees was planted to resemble the ceiling of a cathedral, and leads to the main castle and grounds.















Katherine and Spencer at the Chenonceau Castle. It was built in 1513 by Katherine Briconnet, and later enlarged by Diane de Poitiers, and Katherine de Medici. Katherine seems to be a common name among castle builders. Katherine's own castle at Colline des Fleurs is coming along nicely.










This boar's head was mounted in the kitchen of the castle. I'm sure many a fine meal of Sanglier was cooked here. We bought a piece of cured sanglier at the open-air market in Bourg d'Oisan, but it was confiscated by the Customs Agent in Atlanta on our return flight home.











The picture to the left is of the gardens of Chenonceau taken from the castle itself. The gardens cover many acres, and are meticulously landscaped. These are in the style of formal French gardens. This is how we want our back yard to look.








The Chenonceaux Castle from the front with a fountain in the foreground. The portion of the castle that is visible to the right spans the River Cher. This part was added later, and provided a second escape route from attacking armies.


This large urn containing flowers is just what Katherine wants in our yard. We thought about bringing this one home with us, but we were pretty sure that it wouldn't fit in our suitcase. Maybe one of our children can make us one, or buy us one for Fathers' or Mother's day.








After visiting Chenonceau, we made a stop at a local grocery store for bread, cheese, ham, mustard, watercress, tomatoes, and some yogurts, not to mention chocolate. We drove east as Katherine made us yummy sandwiches to eat in the car. The six-hour drive went pretty well, except for a one-hour traffic jam in St. Etienne.
By night fall, we arrived at Bourg d'Oisan in the alps near Grenoble. A full moon rose over the Alps, to greeted us. The mountains tops still boasted snow, and glaciers crowned their peaks. We drove through town looking for a hotel, and finally settled on the Hotel de Milan where Dave and I had stayed last year. We were given a room without heat that dated from the early 1900's. It had old world charm! The carpet and paint looked original. They graciously supplied us with a space heater and extra blankets, as the temperature was in the fifties. We found a hotel that was still serving dinner, and feasted on Beef Burgundy, Potatoes Au Gratin, Green Salad, and for dessert, Creme Brule.
Up next: Biking the Alp d'Huez.