The Loire Valley is about 600 km from Geneva and is located southwest of Paris. Given the distance between the castles, we needed our car so we drove instead of taking the train.
The drive to the Loire Valley ended up taking significantly longer than expected due to a traffic jam and a diversion onto backroads but the drive was gorgeous! We spent 4 lovely nights in the Loire Valley with the highlights below.
Our favorite chateau: Chenonceau
We stayed at a lovely hotel right around the corner from Chenonceau Chateau and spent our first day there. What an amazing place- beautiful grounds and gardens, tons of history, a great playground, a fun maze that S insisted on doing again and again, and some donkeys to look at. This chateau was by far our favorite and definitely a no-miss in the Loire Valley.
Second Chateau: Chiverny
The chateau in Chiverny was next up and gorgeous as well - we could only tour part of the castle as people actually still live in the other part. The gardens were absolutely amazing and there was a garden maze here too. Another highlight at Chiverny was seeing all of the hunting dogs they still have on the property.
After visiting this chateau, we had some lovely crepes right across the street for lunch. Our French skills came in handy this trip!
An awesome zoo: Parc Beauval
When I researched the trip, many people recommended a stop at the ZooParc Beauval and I am SO glad they did - this was an amazing zoo- very clean and well laid out with many interesting animals. We saw S's current favorite, the panda bear, my all-time favorite, the elephants, and many other great animals from multiple types of lions to giraffes to playful monkeys and penguins. There were also many play areas for S to run off some energy (and then promptly fall asleep on our drive back to the hotel!).
Last stop: Chambord
Our last stop was the largest chateau but my least favorite - Chambord. There are some pretty impressive features (440 rooms, double helix stair cases), but it was empty and lacking the charm that the others had had. That said, we still enjoyed our visit and S especially loved the wind on the panoramic overlook.
A few other highlights
The drives through the countryside were amazing - we were able to see the Amboise Castle, the ruins at Montrichard, and countless other farms and views.
I think everyone thought we were coming from Disney Paris based on S's Minnie headband.
The French rest stops were fabulous- many had play areas, they had a great selection of food, etc.
Beautiful!!!! It looks like a lovely mini vacation. It looks as though the weather was nice. I love the selfie with the Minnie Mouse Ear in Marie's eye.
ReplyDeleteMoments to cherish.... Cathy