Day 13: Chinon Royal Fortresse

A cool and sunny day, perfect for the hill top Chateau in Chinon. The chateau has a dragon theme that the kids liked. We loved the feeling and the information. There was a clear and easy history that was explained as you went through the chateau, in part with creative films about the period. Most important was Joan of Arc meeting King Charles vII in 1492. 

One of the very friendly touches here are lawn chairs for the guests to use...made a great picnic spot, when no one is attacking.

What do you think we ate?

Yes, that is a can of sardines and avocado, we are really deviating from our regular diet. We even had tomato and cucumber before the cantaloupe and flan.

I can only imagine that it took all summer to cut down enough trees to heat the chateau. Especially because every room had a massive fire place. 

We are packing up tonight. Going to a bakery for breakfast then heading to Orly for our flight home. The accommodations in Amboise have been great for our needs. We have a parking spot, we don't need to use the car to walk to the city centre and the house is very nicely set-up.

What did we learn?

You can hear church bells no matter where you are in France.

The kids are exploring more and more, with their diet. In the last two days they have tried, tomato soup with tomato and basil ice cream, French onion soup, mussels, and cream brûlée. No matter what we order everyone is happy with their meal. Today we sat at an outdoor brasserie for one and a half hours, who knew that the kids could sit that long at the table and talk and eat.

We are coming home, our pants fit a little tighter, our cheeks a little more plumb and our willingness to try new experiences more generous.