Thinking Ahead

Here we are, May 7, 2012, and, unforgivably haven't posted anything since January and the post on the Bicycle train. Not very responsible of me I know. I'm here to remedy that situation though.
As we are fast approaching our next trip to Europe, I need to start flexing fingers so we can share the up coming adventures of our trip to France this summer. For the second year in a row we are going to be in France.
But, unlike last year when we traveled on the eastern side of the country to Lac Annecy and then north to Alsace, Colmar and the Route de Vin, and Strasboug before heading over to Normandy and finally Paris, this year we are headed west to the Loire, then south to the Dordogne and over to Provence, before heading north for another visit to Paris.
This year we have decided to stay in the Latin Quarter of Paris. This is a much more lively area than the location of our hotel, Hotel du Champs de Mars, in the Rue Cler area last year. Our Paris hotel is the Hotel Europe Saint Severin. It looks great, but we won't know until we get there.
The following is a video of the Rue Mouffetard, which is pretty close to us, so you can see what the area is like.
Should be a ton of fun!

I really enjoy reading MyMelange.com.  It is a travel blog that focuses almost exclusively on travel to Paris and Italy.

I just came across a post written by a guest author by the name of Molly. The article was of particular interest to me, because our trip this summer is going to take us to the Loire Valley chateaux country.

Since there are so many in the area, we have been wondering which ones to see and which we could skip.  This article really helps to narrow it down a bit.

Five Chateaux in France

The author discusses:
Chateau Chambord

As Molly puts it: "Hidden in the center of a forest is the Chateau Chambord. If you close your eyes for a moment and envision what your idea might be for a house only occupied for the occasional nights stay or whose primary use would be as a hunting lodge – a castle with 440 rooms, 84 staircases, and 365 fireplaces would certainly not be what most people would have in mind. Yet, this was the structure that filled the desires of King Francois I. For a hunting lodge, it is the largest Chateau in the Loire Valley."

This is definitely one of the chateaux that we definitely have in our plans.  Jodi has spent a lot of time looking it over already

Chateau d’ Usse

This is one that we have overlooked I think.  I looks terribly interesting, and looks as if it could be a castle from a number of fairytales. 


Chateau Villandry

Molly says that it is not the beauty of the chateau’s design that draws people here, but the gardens surrounding it. The chateau is impressive it seems, but apparently its French mosaic gardens are the main draw.


Chateau Chaumont

Chaumont is supposed to be one of the oldest chateau’s in the Loire Valley.


Chateau Versailles

And, of course, you can't talk of chateaux in France without including the palace at Versailles. Most people are aware of Versailles and its beauty.

Versailles is not in the Loire, but it certainly can't be left off this list.

To read Molly's full article,  visit MyMelange.com

Written by Molly@MyMelange.com Photo Credits : MACSURACK / ell brown / cookipediachef / aschaf / CpaKmoi