DAY 16 - Loire Valley

Thursday, 5 May 2005

Sacre-Couer
This is another castle day for us, but before we leave Paris we head over to the Sacre-Couer which was the last of the big four Paris landmarks for us to view. It's kind of out of the way but is interesting to look at. It was also good that Al found a parking place close by! After visiting the site, we then depart Paris and head for two beautiful French chateaus in the Loire Valley.

Chateau Chambord
The largest French chateau in the Loire Valley...

This castle was quite large but in need of a lot of cosmetic attention. There's an interesting double-helix staircase, so the wife and mistress don't have to bump into one another when going up or down. Another interesting room is the Hunter's Room, the king's collection of antlers. However, the ride in the French countryside was much more interesting and enjoyable and we found a nice little tourist area nearby to enjoy a wonderful al fresco lunch.

Chateau Chenonceau
This was a much more interesting castle, with a part of the castle jutting out over the River Cher. The chateau and grounds are beautiful, but there were way too many people in the castle to make it as enjoyable as it could have been.

Hiking up and down the stairs was a challenge as some of the passageways are not very wide or that tall! Yes, we had our silly moments singing Cher's "Believe" everytime we crossed the river.  Still, the chateau and grounds are among the best of all the Loire Valley chateaus.



Geneva/Geneve
This was the second Swiss city Al & I stayed at, the first being Zurich. Let's just say that neither Al nor I have been all that impressed with Switzerland or Liechtenstein. It's expensive and not really that special to look at. Geneva was a real hassle as they had so many dead end, one-way and pedestrian only zones that Al & I gave up trying to get to the hotel after 30-40 minutes of driving around. We felt like a rat in a maze. Finally we end up parking 6-7 blocks away and hiked in to the hotel. The pedestrian areas looked like they had some interesting shops/restaurants in them, but unfortunately we had no time to explore them.

-- Al & Locke