Le Rivière Cher

This morning we got up fairly early for a wonderful breakfast of fresh fruits and pastries. We packed up quickly to start another busy day! I hate leaving the chateau, I wish we could have spent more time enjoying the gardens and house itself. But I was excited for our morning boat tour of the Chateau de Chenonceau. It was absolutely gorgeous! There is a beautiful bridge that the chateau sits on over the river, and you can't see it if you tour the chateau from land. We felt very lucky to get the beautiful view. Then we drove over to the chateau itself for an interior tour. It was a little smaller (like I have any right calling a mansion small) but it made it feel almost like a home. This chateau was built primarily by women (half by the wife and half by the mistress). It still was beautiful! I'm still just amazed by the style and artistry of this time that is so prevalent in France. Again, we could only imaging what it must have been like to live here. I think my favorite room was the chapel with all of the stained glass windows! I kind of went crazy with pictures...

After walking around for a while (and falling down a flight of stairs...seriously there will be a bruise on my butt for a couple days) we got some lunch. Christine and I shared a bottle of wine and chatted with two girls we just met from our program while on this trip. They are so sweet and nice! We were sitting near the gardens of the mistress which were much more beautiful than the wife's (aren't they all?). It was a beautiful spot to enjoy the afternoon.

Today was filled with pictures, good food, and wine so far! I'll post as many pictures as I can, I think they can tell the story of my day much better than I could! We are on the bus right now heading to our next chateau, and between all of the activity of the day in combination with the majority of a bottle of wine, I think I will probably take a nap. Bons rêves :)