bus trip day 3

Wednesday May 30.

Part I. Angers

Chateau d'Angers is surrounded by a military fortress, so from the outside it doesn't look like a castle. Most of it was under renovation so there really wasn't much to photograph. But then we walked around to the front and there was a cool draw bridge and then once we got inside the facade it was a completely different atmosphere. This area was, as stated by our audio guide: 'completely unexpected as it is beyond expectation'. I really wonder who they hired to write that script.

 This castle is probably most well known for its tapestry-a detailed illustration of the Apocalypse (The book of Revelation). The tapestry was made during the Hundred Years war and shows clues as to what life was like during that war.  While some pieces are missing it is actually the oldest surviving medieval relic in France. It was more colorful and much bigger than the Bayeux tapestry-each section was about 15 feet high and the entire thing was about 100 meters long. You can see the curvature of the walls in the picture below because this room borders the exterior fortress walls.

It was fun to walk around on top of the fortress walls. There was a garden up there and a great view of the river nearby. After leaving the castle, Rachel and I explored the town a little bit. We found an adorable carousel where we ate lunch and then got ice cream cones, so basically it was a perfect afternoon.

Part II. Langeais

We didn't have a tour guide at Langeais so we went from room to room as a class and read the information together. I didn't like the interior because it was dark and all the rooms were small and crowded, and lets be honest when have I ever liked the interior of any of the castles? The one interesting thing that I learned was that in the middle ages tapestries were considered a piece of furniture and were used to provide insulation. All the tapestries reminded me of the one in our living room at home and made me miss my family.

This is the grand dining hall-they used folding chairs so that they could easily move things around.

I thought this was a fun wallpaper in one of the rooms.

I was very grateful to get out of that stuffy little castle and get out into the gardens. I climbed a wall adjacent from the castle and got some cool pictures from that high vantage point.

 When I was a kid I always wanted a tree house in my backyard. I would have lemonade stands all the time and when people would ask what I was saving up for I told them I was saving up to buy wood. Sadly it never happened, but when I found this treehouse I climbed up and got to live my childhood dream for a few minutes. It wasn't that exciting. (Sometimes I wish I still had the same imagination that I used to)

 At this point it was time to be back at the bus but it had started to pour rain so first we had to figure out how to keep my cameras dry. Luckily Ashley was an angel and let me wrap them in her jacket, then we ran back in the rain.. The rest of the bus ride was very uncomfortable. Luckily we got to the hotel before our dinner reservation so we had time to clean up a little. The dinner was even fancier than the night before. They gave us fancy little glasses of juice, homemade bread, little quiches and smoked salmon on little pieces of toast before we even got the appetizers.

This was a chocolate tart with delicious caramel ice cream

this was some kind of appetizer involving parmesan cheese, avocadoes and shrimp. It was so good!

The main course was a little harder for me because it was veal, but I had a little bite of it and it wasn't bad. I'm trying to be a more adventurous eater but still haven't gotten up the guts to try escargo.

xoxo Heather