La Vallée de la Loire et mon anniversaire

Last weekend I went to the Loire Valley with API to see the chateaus...and it was worth the bus ride.  Those French kings really knew how to do vacation homes.
See exhibit A, Clemenceau:

It was originally given to King Henry's "favorite lady" (according to the guidebook...I think it was a politically correct way of saying his favorite mistress) and after he died, his wife Catherine de Medici made her give it back.  Talk about revenge. 

She did her ruling from this chateau, in a tiny room that overlooks the river. Also, since the house straddles a river that marked the line between German-occupied France and non-occupied, it was used to smuggle people across to the free side during the war.  Apparently, the German artillery was aimed on it the entire war, ready to blow it to smithereens, but for some reason they never did.   

The decorations were lavish. One example of a bedroom. 

Exhibit B, Amboise.  It was originally a stronghold, and then it was transformed into a royal residence.  One of the kings that lived there died from hitting his head on one of the extremely low doorframes...he must have been walking really fast. Leonardo Da Vinci is buried in the chapel here.

Exhibit C, Chambourg.  This one was my favorite...except for the fact that it had rained just before we got there, and so it was really wet, and my black flats are now a disgusting shade of tan due to the wierd-colored mud that was everywhere. But as far as the chateaus go, disregarding the weather, this was far and away the most impressive.  Its most famous feature is the double helix main staircase...I took a picture, but you can't really tell it's anything special, so I'm not going to put it on here.  Google Images probably has better examples.

 

  This is the Queen's bedroom, which eventually became another mistress's room.  French kings weren't very good at monogamy.

We spent the night in Tours, a nearby city.  I liked their flowers and fountains.  Plus, I got to take my first stand-up shower in months! It was the highlight of the trip.

We also visited the mushroom caves, where a very enthusiastic mushroom worker showed us around and told us everything we could ever want to know about growing mushrooms.  It was extremely interesting...far more interesting than I expected.  I love to listen to people who are passionate about their profession, even when it is something I would never in a million years want to do.

 

If you want to see a more complete album of the weekend, the following link will take you there...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=349403&id=689395866&l=b85f33593e

 

Now on to mon anniversaire, also known as my birthday, also known as the first anniversary of my 21st birthday.

That's right folks, I am not actually turning 22, it's just 21 plus one :)

My uncle was in town today, the day before my big day, and he celebrated with me.  It was really nice to have some family time!  He made getting old a little more bearable.  As I write this, I am eating his delicious gift of Belgian chocolate and drinking a glass of wine.  How French of me, right?

I am headed off on spring break this Friday.  I am beginning in Milan, to visit my sorority sister, then moving on to Rome where I will meet up with some friends from my program, then am off to the Amalfi Coast for a week!  After that, my mom and sister are coming to visit (YAY) and we are spending several days in Arles, a small city in the south of France, then returning to Paris. 

Due to all this excitement, I make no promises on the updating of this blog.  However, when I do get around to it, I promise some exciting stories, and as always, fabulous photography.