Chateau Excursion #1

Today was the third trip organized by the CIDEF program: a tour of three of the chateaux in the Pays de la Loire. This trip was the first half of two, the second of which will happen on March 14th.

So we all met at the entrance to UCO at quarter to eight this morning and caught a bus for the entire day. It took about an hour to reach the first chateau, the Avey-de-Rideau. All along the way, Monsieur Melin--the director of UCO and organisor of the trip--kept up a running commentary along the way.

Of the three chateaux that I saw today, the first one was by far my favorite. It reminded me of a castle from a fairy tale, complete with a moat. Touring the inside, however, brought me straight into my favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. Looking at the various tapestries and bedrooms in the chateau reminded me of the part in the book where Lizzie visits Pemberly with her aunt and uncle--one of my favorite parts!

My regret is that we were only able to spend about an hour at this castle. I felt as though I could have strolled around for a while longer, but after all there were two other places to visit!

The second chateau that we visited was the Chenonceau, which was much bigger and more elaborate than the previous. This season was rather the wrong season to visit, however, as the gardens that the Chenonceau is known for were not in bloom. It did have one thing that neither of the other chateaux had--a labyrinth! True, the hedges were rather short and I could glance over them to see the path, but still!

The final chateau, Chambord, is considered the favorite of nearly everyone who visits it--but it wasn't mine. In fact, it was the one that I was least interested in. As it was the third chateau that we visited, all of the rooms and tapestries were starting to look the same. The grounds--while absolutely huge--looked rather bleak and grayish rather than the vibrant green that so many pictures showed.

So my opinions don't coincide with the majority, but what else is new? The point is, after this trip today, I have decided for sure that I must go on the second one too, so stay tuned for that!