Last Friday, Melissa and I set out on our first roadtrip together in France in her new car whom I like to call "Big Daddy."
Destination: castles in the Loire valley.
We were sssoooo excited for what was bound to be a trip of memories as we Tomtom (Melissa's new GPS) navigated around the French countryside.
Our first stop was the château d'Ussé and I could not wait to visit my very first castle.
I was not disappointed.
I was not disappointed.
This is the castle that supposedly inspired Charles Perrault to write the story La belle au bois dormant (Sleeping Beauty). I can see why. The way it's nestled on the side of the mountain is rather fairy-tale-ish, don't you think?!
One of my favorite parts of the castle were the climbing rose bushes. The roses were huge and contrasted nicely against the old stone. They reminded me of the roses in Beauty and the Beast...another French fairty-tale.
I find Melissa far more beautiful than the roses.
She was so patient with me as I took picture after picture after picture...after picture!
One cool aspect of the castle was that the rooms were all staged.
This is a trunk that carried bridal attire in the 15th century. 15TH CENTURY!!! That's the same century that Columbus sailed to the America's! And this chest was just sitting in the hallway, with no ropes to keep people from touching it! No big deal!
Can you tell which person in this picture is real?
How about in this picture?
Okay, no one is in this one, but I wanted you to see just how massive the paintings and tapestries are!
After visiting the main rooms in the castle, we toured Sleeping Beauty's tower.
Melissa was so excited, as you can tell!
The different rooms had various scenes set up from the story. Here, the prince is about to wake up the princess from her deep slumber!
It just so happened that I found my knight in shining armor in the same tower! How charming! :)
While we were touring the castle, I met a real princess and asked if I could have my picture taken with her!
She was positively precious!
Julia and Amberly, this little girl reminded me so much of you! I thought of you so much as I walked around. You would have LOVED this fairy-tale castle!
The countryside surrounding the castle was fabulous, too.
So. much. green.
These trees are among my favorite type. They are such romantic things! I told Melissa they just ooze melancholy and moodiness. (Perhaps a bit like me!)
This picture almost looks unreal. It's hard to believe people claim this place as home!
On the way to our quaint little bed and breakfast (you can read and see all about it on my sister's blog), we spotted another small château that we thought we'd visit since we were in the area.
Do you see it at the end of the drive?
We weren't sure if we were allowed to enter or not, but there was no sign saying it was private.
Melissa was able to snap a few pictures before the owner told us visiting hours were over. Oops!
It was so much fun being able to drive everywhere because we could "take in" so much more of the countryside. These are some sights you don't see in Kansas...or Africa...
The enchanted forest.
And yes, Melissa, I did get a picture of the poppies!
Our first day of French sister roadtripping was a success.
Stay tuned to see the two castles we visited on Saturday!
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