Day 3 - The Loire Valley

Moon over Paris

Today we had a great day!  It took a little rousting this morning (especially for the boys!) but we all made it.  We left Paris early this morning and got on our private coach to head down into the Loire Valley.  As we drove through the countryside, many students napped.  Such a tough life :)  It took about 2 hours to reach Chartres, a fantastic town about 2 hours from Paris.

In Chartres, there was originally a Roman cathedral that was built to house the robe that Mary wore when Jesus was born.  In the 1100s there was a fire that destroyed the entire church but miraculously the veil was spared safe in the crypt.  The town rebuilt the church, but much larger and more glorious.  It was built starting in 1205 and took only 30 years to build.  For comparison, in Paris Notre Dame was started roughly the same time and took 250 years to build.

View from the top

Climbing the stairs

Chartres’ cathedral has beautiful stained glass, that features blue heavily (known as the Chartres blue, similar to Mooresville blue!).  While we weren’t able to see the veil, we were able to see an amazing labyrinth on the floor that pilgrims who had walked from Paris would crawl around on their knees.  In the center was a silver bowl.  What it was for, we are not sure :)  One crazy group led by our own Dr. Schleede went up the spiral staircase all the way to the top of the cathedral and got an amazing view.  Glad to report they all returned safe and sound and with some amazing pictures!  Their thighs though sure got a good workout.

Rose Window and "Chartres Blue"

After taking the sights in at the cathedral, we let the kids loose to grab some lunch.  Everyone seemed to enjoy being out of the bustle of Paris and exploring the quaint little village of Chartres.  The tiny streets, full of pastry shops and cafés, and people doing their daily shopping was all so French! 

The symbols of the King

Then it was back on the bus for another few hours (and more napping!).  We arrived at Chambord, which is probably the most amazing chateau in all of France.  It was built by François the First, whose symbol is the salamander.  All though the castle are emblems of the symbol, the F, and the fleur-de-lis that is the symbol of the French monarchy.  It is absolutely immense, and the inspiration for the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.  François never saw the completion of his chateau, although he nearly went bankrupt building it and funding his wars.  We took a group of about 15 into the chateau to explore the inside, starting with a double helix staircase.  We climbed all the way to the top of the chateau (more thigh burn!) and explored the vast castle.  It was a hunting castle that the royals only lived in 7 weeks a year.  It is mostly unfurnished as when they moved royal residences they took their furnishings with them.

Then it was back on the bus for more driving (and yes, more napping!) toward the town of Loches and our hotel.  The hotel for tonight and tomorrow is a huge hit with the kids already.  It overlooks a river with a view of another chateau that we will be visiting tomorrow and has awesome balconies for sitting on.  After unloading our bags it was off to dinner in town, which is very medieval looking.  Again the kids seemed to love the small town charm.

BJ braiding Alyssa's hair on the bus :)

View from the hotel, chateau on the top left

Dinner was very tasty, several said it was their favorite so far.  We had a delicious roasted meat dish that was so tender it didn’t even need a knife to cut.  It was served with an au gratin potato dish that was delicious and mushrooms.  The grand finale was a lemon tart served with a raspberry sauce.   It was a big hit and BJ enjoyed eating everyone’s left overs - he says his momma says no food should go to waste :)



After dinner we took the kids to a little supermarket to load up on snacks and sugar.  Don’t hate me parents :)  They were thrilled to be able to buy some snacks at an affordable price, and buy nutella and water and other favorites. 

It’s been a fantastic day and tomorrow we are off to visit 3 more chateaux.  Stay tuned!