pass the french toast: bus trip day 4

I am now home from France but I still have to finish all the blog posts for my class, so enjoy :)

Thursday May 31.

Part I. Azay-le-Rideau

Azay le Rideau was a fortress in the middle ages. In 1515 a wealthy business man acquired the estate and rebuilt a castle on the property in the Italian style. It was seized by Francois I in 1528 and given to a friend of the king. The Italian Renaissance influence can be seen in the main staircase- it was one of the first non-spiral staircases in France. The castle is apparently also known as the 'most fairytale-like' castle in France but I would personally have to disagree.
One of the main symbols seen throughout the castle was the salamander, which was a symbol of power. The image of the salamander was accompanied by the phrase NVTRISCO ET EXTINGO- meaning I eat the fire and extinguish it. Another interesting thing inside the castle was that there were no hallways. This was so that they could put windows on each side of the room to let more light in. It was just a strange thought that if you had to get to the opposite side of the castle then you would have to walk through other people's bedrooms.

Part II: Chenonceau
This was by far my favorite castle (it gets my vote for most fairy tale-like.) It was simply magical. We didn't have a guided tour so I didn't get to learn too much about it but I had fun just exploring and taking lots of pictures. First we went to Catherine de Medici's hedge maze, which was really fun. (I would have loved to play hide and seek there as a kid!)

left: totally reminds me of rapunzel's tower. right: those are all bird nests-so there were tons of little birds flying around :)

The tower seen above is the only thing remaining from the original medieval structure owned by the Marques family. The castle was rebuilt in the 16th century in the Renaissance style.

there are several gardens and even a farm. I didn't even get to see the half of it.

the castle is built on a river. yes, its magical.

Not only was this my favorite castle from the outside but it was by far the best on the inside as well.

some fun floors inside the castle:

The best part. Chenonceau has a team of florists that create beautiful flower arrangements every day to decorate the inside of the castle.

I wish I had more time there but I loved every minute of it!

Part III: Amboise

This is where Charles VIII died from hitting his head against a door frame. We seriously heard that story at every castle we went to..Funny thing is that he was only about 5 feet tall.

left: the loire river, which is apparently famous for shipwrecks. right: da vinci lived in that red house with the tree in front of it

This is the chapel where Leonardo da Vinci was buried.


the suit of armor was for parades, not for battle.

the black area is what is still remaining of the castle. it used to be a lot bigger.

i want a chair like that.

I liked the monograms of King Henri II. (H for Heather?)

This is my friend Heather who is 5 feet tall. I had just given her the nickname mini-me, then about 5 minutes later we found this tower called mini-me's tower so I had to take a picture. Her shirt even matches.