The
last weekend in June I went a little outside of Paris to the Loire
Valley, known for it's many Châteaux. I jumped on a morning train on
Saturday morning to meet my friend Danielle, her fiancé and his family.
Danielle and I spent a good part if the day at Château Chenonceau, one
of the most well known Châteaux, famous for its arched bridge.
The château was seized by the King from the Bohier family in 1535 for
unpaid debts. King Henry then gave it to his favorite mistress Diane.
Diane loved the castle and in 1555 had the arched bridge built across
the River Cher and began the extensive flower and vegetable gardens.
After the death of the King, his wife, Catherine de Medici, had Diane
expelled and moved into the château. In 1577 she had the Grand Gallery
added, which extends over the bridge Diane previously built. Chenonceau became
known as the Queen's Castle and each Queen added to the castle.
Today, the Château is very well kept. I loved the fresh flowers from
the surrounding gardens and decorations found throughout, it gave it a
very homey and liveable feel! It had started to rain during our visit inside so we couldn't tour all of the gardens but we went to the ones near the
Château, which were (as usual) beautifully laid out.
We then headed back to the house and met up with Julien and his family
for lunch. Later in the afternoon we headed to the Beauval Zoo, one of
the top 15 Zoos in the world. The zoo was large and very open. Many of
the animals had ample room to wander and I was surprised at the low
fences separating us. At dusk, they brought the animals into their cages
which are located in the open with large glass windows, allowing you to
see the animals enjoying their dinner.
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