Blois, Chenoceau, and Chaumont - Thursday, 15 June 2019

Still no luck with pictures. 

This morning we found out that the Buccos lost last night 5-1. Chad Kuhl had another tough start and the bats were pretty silent.

Up around 6:30 to meet for breakfast at 7:30 and then on to the coach. Breakfast again featured cold eggs due to the heating dish not being plugged in. Otherwise, it was a typical European breakfast featuring lots of breads.

This morning we took the coach up to the top of the hill to visit the Royal Chateau of Blau. This Chateau has 4 distinct wings ranging from the 13th - 17th centuries. The oldest Gothic part is really a carry over from an old medieval castle. In 1489 just a few years before Chambord, Louis XII built the "flamboyant" wing. Françios constructed the Renaissance wing, and The Gaston of Orléans had the classicism wing constructed in 1635. We had a guided tour by Martine who did a great job explaining all the different architecture types. Although the decorations inside were reproductions, the chateau had an authentic feel to it with the low doors and the staircases. The French put a lot of symbolism and royalty stamping on the ceilings that was very apparent in this chateau. 

At the end of the tour we were picked up by two horse drawn carriages that wound our way through the old town of Blois and across the river to view Blois. There were great vistas of St. Louis Church, the Chateau, and St. Nicholas Church.  It was a very hot day (what else is new when I travel to Europe) as temps reached about 89 degrees. The carriage ride was a much better alternative to walking. 

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At the end of the tour we stopped for a bit of lunch. Had a Croque Monsieur and a Heineken to quench our thirst. Earle had the same, Barbara a lamb dish, and Charles had fish and chips. 

Then back on the coach for about an hour's drive to Chateau de Chenoceau. Boy I wished I had taken French. It is the hardest of the Romance Languages for me to decipher. Chenoceau is the chateau of the ladies. It was a bit smaller than Chambord, but more charming to me. It was donated to Diane de Poitiers in 1547 by Henry II. She was his mistress and sex coach. When Henry II died, his widow, Catherine de Medici kicked Diane out. It was passed down through the line. We had iPod guides which did a wonderful job at explaining all the rooms and the history of the castle.  Part of the galley hallways had even been used as a military hospital in World War I, just like in Downton Abbey. 

 

It was then a 20 minute drive to Domaine of Chaumont-Sur-Loire. The reason for visiting this domaine was to take in the International Garden Festival. There were 24 entries competing in a contest, the title of which was Flower Power. The exhibits were creative and intriguing. We really needed more time to take them all in as well as to get to the actual Chateau. The grounds were absolutely beautiful and the flowers on the ground were in full bloom. 

It took about a half hour to get back to Blois. We opted to go back to the hotel rather than eat in the town since we felt really grubby and wanted to freshen up. In hindsight, it might not have been the best idea. 

Back in the room to try to upload some pictures. I sprung for the Premium WiFi, but that didn't seem to help any. Pictures may have to wait until get to some better network connections. It was 7:45 before too long and we went to the hotel restaurant. We ordered wine and beef and our dinners. In the most bizarre service ever, the dinners were served in a hodgepodge manner. Earle got his starter and I my main course. Barbara and Charles nothing. We waited a bit and still nothing for Barb and Charles. I finally asked the waitress who admitted to making a mistake as to how the orders were put in. So I finished my dinner and Earle his appetizer. It was another 20 minutes before the 3 of them got their dinners. In retrospect, I should have sent mine back. I had to ask for our desserts or we may still have been sitting there. In the confusion of it all no pictures made it on the the camera except for dessert.

So after 2 hours we made it back to the room. Fiddled around with the Internet a bit before heading off to bed. We get an extra 1/2 hour to sleep tomorrow.