destination: loire valley.

Happy Tuesday! I'm finally wading through the 1300+ photos from our European adventure and wanted to share the first two days of our getaway with you today! As a warning, these posts will be very picture-heavy, so if you'd rather turn through them on facebook, you can do that too. {I opted to show the full photos, rather than make normal collages because some of the fun details would get lost!}


After landing in Paris, {cv} and I hopped the train to Tours, a city in central France which is home to roughly 150,000 people. I also called it home during a study aboard program in the summer of 2006. Tours is special to us because we began our long distance days while I was studying here. It was also a stop on our French honeymoon, so we were thrilled to get back. We stayed in the charming Hotel Ronsard, just a few steps away from this magnificent corner of Tours called Place Plumereau. Before a yummy dinner at Les Papilles, we people watched while strolling my favorite little streets.



On our first full day in France, we powered up with croissants and headed out for a day of chateau tours via Loire Valley Tours. Though it wasn't the cheapest of adventures, it was absolutely worthwhile because we didn't have to worry about anything--food, entry fees, transportation, or wine. The van was small {it only seated 8!} and two of the other passengers were fellow Hoosiers, which made my day!



The beautiful chateau of Blois was our first stop--I loved the pattern in the windows below!


From there, it was on to Cheverny. {I should have allowed {cv} to keep his sunglasses on in this one!} This chateau is famous for its furniture. Take a peek at the beautiful pink+gold room...




The last stop on our tour was Chambord--a massive masterpiece complete with a double helix staircase. {cv} and I tested it out :)



To cap off our crazy day, we adventured out to visit my host mother from my study abroad days. {cv} had only heard stories of my time with her, so I was excited for him to actually meet her in the flesh. {Read an early post about her here!} My language skills could never compete with her 100+ mph French, so let's just say things hadn't changed. Multiple miscommunications later, we took a ride with an incredibly kind employee of the tourism bureau out to the little bistro she now runs...


Clearly, she wasn't scarred by my picky-eating habits during the summer I lived with her. She sent these interesting fried friends out to our table. {The picture isn't super clear because I had to be as inconspicuous as possible!} Suffice it to say, we will never forget our dinner at her Bistro du Lac. 



Chris caught me getting a few bisous from Maman Pat--just before she arranged a ride for us with two strangers back into Tours {!!!} It was an absolutely surreal experience to be back with her six years after my summer on Rue de la Grosse Tour. Even though she thinks I'm a pharmacist {wrong} and that we live on Long Island {wrong again}, it was so wonderful to see her :) {I also felt better because our angel from the tourism office affirmed the rapid speed of her French! VICTORY!}


Here are just a few street scenes from Tours before I say "au revoir" for today...





This last photo doesn't look like much, but it makes me so happy. I took it on the street where I lived in 2006 and where we had our favorite dinner of our honeymoon in 2010. I'd taken that walk countless times, but having {cv} there to share it with me means more than words could explain...

Sigh. Can we just go back? Our photos from Paris will be in the next installment! Yay!

20 comments:

  1. oh my word!! i am dying to go. can't wait to hear all about it in person in october (: bisous

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  2. looks like you had an amazing time! you (and CV) seem to arrange the most perfect adventures! :)

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  3. I am so so so jealous. I want to go so bad.

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  4. Gorgeous photos! Looks like an amazing time, can't wait to see more.

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  5. I got to stop in Tours for a few hours the first time I was in France - all that was really accomplished was some shopping. :) but I have gotten to visit several of the châteaux in the Loire Valley. that first trips was with a group of students from my high school, and we were scheduled to visit Chambord but our plans got changed at the last minute, which frankly I'm still disappointed about. I'm dying to try out that helical staircase!

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  6. wonderful trip - thanks for taking us along!

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  7. so amazing! beautiful pictures!! keep them coming :)

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  8. It looks SO beautiful there! Thanks for sharing your photos! :)

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  9. Oh man, you had the best trip! I could eat that whole basket of bread and die a happy woman.

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  10. Aw fun! This post reminds me of when I was in France and didn't understand a word anyone said haha.. it was definitely an adventure! Glad you guys had a great time!

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  11. I'm so so jealous! Beautiful pictures and you are just the cutest!

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  12. i am so jealous! i can't wait until i get a chance to go back to bordeaux (where I studied abroad.) great pictures!

    http://lachapstickfanatique.blogspot.com

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  13. Gorgeous photos - it looks like you hit all of the highlights of that area!

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  14. How lovely! Thank you so much for sharing all of these with us -- I can't wait to read/see more! :-)

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  15. So absolutely beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing, girl! Totally made my Tuesday.

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  16. Amazing!! So beautiful! Thank you for sharing. :)

    Can't wait for the rest!!

    Mendi & Jayme @ Her Late Night Cravings

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  17. Wow!! I love anything and everything french!! so jealous you actually studied abroad!! And love the dress :)

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  18. Beautiful pictures! Thank you for sharing your European adventures. I am going to be taking some notes and my hubby and I start planning out our 2 week trip soon. Looking forward to the rest of the posts!!

    P.S How difficult do you think it will be to travel in France without speaking the language. I am starting to regret my decision to study Spanish in high school and college. I think that French would have served me much better in the long run.

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  19. I just got all teary eyed reading this post! What a romantic past and present! Thanks for sharing!!!

    Tay

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