After visiting Britain we set out for a trip back in time at the time of the kings, visiting the castles of the Loire Valley . The region has over 150 castles, of which only 20 are most relevant and are a great option to understand the complicated history of succession of the kings of France. It is difficult to decide what to visit but we enjoyed the castles that appeared on our way.

We begin by the imposing and gigantic castle of Chambord, with 426 rooms, 56m of high, 77 staircases and 282 chimneys. Built by the king Francis I in 1519, this was just a hunting castle and was scarcely used by the monarchs In it you will find the famous spiral staircase where people that climb from one side never meet those climbing from the other. An idea that is believed to have been created by Leonardo Da Vinci.

Then we went to the city of Blois and already on arrival we had a beautiful view to the city with its castle.

We visited the castle of Blois which is interesting for having 4 architectures from different periods: gothic, flamboyant, renaissance and classic, as the castle was being increased gradually by different kings . Its construction began in the Middle Age, in the XIII century and it suffered many changes until 1638, passing through the hands of the kings Louis XII, François I and Louis XIII.

We spend the night in Amboise and from the road and could admire the view to the Royal Castle facing the river. We didn’t visit this one but it is worth to see from outside.

We decided spend the night in king’ style in a charming bed&breakfast, with a lot of comfort, beautiful decor and a delicious breakfast. But this was only possible thanks to Carol’s mother, because if we were traveling alone it wouldn’t fit in our budget. Hehehe … Thank you Gloria! :-)

The next day we visited Chenonceau, the most visited castle in France after Versailles, but we understood why. The charming castle was built over the river, providing an amazing visual, and it also has beautiful and decorated gardens around. Its construction started in 1499 as a small castle and over time it was increased and after the World War I it served as an emergency hospital.

Further more it has a beautiful interior decoration and the most beautiful and unspoilt kitchen that exists inside a castle. Surely the great attraction of its interior.

To end our tour in the region we visited the house where Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years working for King Francis I, Les Clos (a mini castle, which in France is called Manoir). Inside the house we can still see the decor of the time, learn a little more about the story of Leonardo, besides enjoying the models of most of his inventions that influenced many of our current engineering solutions. All models were developed based on drawings he left in this house. The castle also had a huge garden and we can visit and see other models of Leonardo. An interesting visit.

It was impressive to see up close once again the ostentation of the French monarchy, which seemed more a contest of egos between each new king who took the throne. A lifestyle that shocks and impresses and makes us ask: “But for what were they doing all that?”. In the end we realized that life has not changed much since those times and ostentation of egos in our century is the same, but it is just expresses in other ways. The deal is to show power via material goods.

In the late afternoon we returned to Niort, Alexis’ city, and we went straight to a dinner at Mika’s place, one of our groomsmen. Thanks Mika and Gaëlle for the nice dinner.