My parting shot of the Loire Valley


After three days, four castles, and one international garden festival, the sight of this red balloon floating over the swollen river was the ideal way to end my first trip to the Loire Valley.

I look forward to reliving all of the excitement while sorting through my photos tomorrow morning. First stop, Chambord, the royal hunting lodge with 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces and 426 rooms.

But now, it's time for bed!

Comments

  1. wow. those photos are gorgeous!!! i cant wait to read your posts and get ready for our trip in two days!

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    1. Bon voyage and have a great time in the Loire Valley! Today's May 3 so you must be on your way.

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  2. I think Chambord is just magnificent! Look forward to more pictures!

    Patricia H.

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    1. Chambord is really amazing, although hard to photograph because of the overwhelming dimensions!

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  3. WOW...that castle shot is amazing. And I love the pop of color in the top shot. Hope you had a great time (at least the weather looks like it improved)
    nancyb

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    1. Let's just say that the weather momentarily improved! It's back to grey and dismal now.

      The balloon shot was taken from the car window as Stephane whizzed down the road. It reminded me of you trying to get a shot of the yellow rape flowers!

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  4. Oh what fun! Look forward to hearing where all you went. Wonder if Diane de Poitier's Chenonceaux was among them. Hope so as your photos are so great!

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    1. Thanks for sending the tweet about Chenonceau. We went there and loved it. My only regret is that it rained the entire time so the photos of the outside aren't that good.

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  5. what a fairy tale! The weather certainly looks perfect.

    I would so love working in those castles--I can't imagine having to start all the fires.

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    1. The weather was lousy most of the time. We only got a break from the rain on Tuesday afternoon.

      You wouldn't want to work in Chambord because it's a cold castle without any heating and starting the fires would be a major task because the fireplaces are massive. The logs in the fireplaces were about 3 ft long.

      We did, however, see some other castles where it would be great to work. The settings were idyllic.

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    1. :) Don't we all! But if you have a castle, you also need a fortune to maintain it. That's one of the things that I learned on this trip. Heating a castle isn't cheap!

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  7. Great photos, rest well Mary Kay.

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  8. Wow beautiful (and where did you find those blue skies??) I haven't been to Chambord yet, but definitely on the list. Looking forward to reading about your adventures in these parts

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    1. Chambord is well worth the trek from Tours, although try to go on a day when it isn't full of people. It was so crowded when we were there that they ran out of headphones for the audio guides.

      The blue skies are deceptive - the clouds only parted for a couple of minutes while we were at Chambord. Fortunately, it happened right at the perfect moment when I was taking photos.

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  9. That shot of the red balloon is so dreamy!

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    1. There was another balloon in the sky at the same time - I guess that it's something that people do while visiting the Loire Valley. It would be wonderful to soar over the castles!

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  10. I love that there are 12 places in your "top ten" list! I wouldn't have been able to remove any of these places from the list either. Beautiful photos of some of the world's best spots.

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