Headed to Idaho

Hi everyone! I just wanted you to know that the fun France entries will be on hold for a little over a week because we are headed up to Idaho to my parents cabin, tomorrow. We get to enjoy the great outdoors, fish, visit family, and get away from all things electronic! I'll probably have a great story to tell when we get back - 4 kids, me and my parents in the same car for 16 hours - heaven help us if we all make it there alive and happy!!
When I get back I will continue my France posts. Don't worry there are plenty more to come. I hope everyone is having a great summer!!
Love, Grace

Vineyards

We thought we would have to drive all the way to Bordeau to see some French vineyards, but as luck would have it there were vineyards right near our B&B. They were very beautiful and of course they all had a little Chateau overlooking them.

Fontevraud Abbey

Jacque wanted to go to this Abbey, and I very reluctantly went along - what could be exciting about an Abbey? Well - it quickly became one of my favorite spots. It was incredibly tranquil and peaceful and beautiful all at the same time. The big tourist draw is that King Richard the Lionheart is buried there along with his parents and sister. Did you know that King Richard was French? I didn't!! The last photo is a summary of why Richard is buried there - I hope you can read it. We also scored at their gift shop. I bought the boys each a bow and arrow and my mom bought my dad a cross bow. I bought the girls a queen and a princess figurine to go with the boys knight figurines. I figured the boys could protect the girls!

Leonardo da Vinci

We practically stumbled on Leonardo da Vinci's tomb. He asked to be buried at the Chateau Amboise chapel, and his home was in the village. So we went and toured his house - so cool!! It was amazing to walk around and think - Leonardo da Vinci walked where I am walking! They had mock ups of some of his inventions - he was a genius!!





Isn't his home beautiful!! It wasn't grand or ornate, it just felt like a nice home. And his grounds were beautiful also, he even had a little stream through his garden. I have tons more pictures of course, but I can't show them all!

Amboise

The village of Amboise has a beautiful Chateau, which of course we visited, but the village was my favorite part. It felt like the perfect picturesque French village,including cute cafes and flower boxes. Oh, and I had my first crepe there - unfortunately it was completely gross!! My sister said that her favorite way to eat a crepe was with sugar, so I figured that I would try it that way too. Well instead of sprinkling sugar on the crepe, the girl poured sugar on it. When I took my first bite it was like eating a spoon full of sugar. It was disgusting, so I only finished about half of it. Even my sister said it was gross. I had to eat some bread to help settle my stomach after I ate it. Needless to say I never ordered a crepe with sugar again - nutella or chocolate is definitely the way to go!

Chateau de Ponce

This Chateau was in the village where our B&B was. It turned out to be my favorite - mostly because of the grounds. My favorite was the tree tunnel that formed the perimeter of the garden, it was very reminiscent of The Secret Garden. I loved it!

Ron on a Chinook

I hope I don't get in trouble for this picture. Ron had to go on a little trip and someone took his picture in the Chinook (thanks for telling me how to spell it Sara!). This is him waiting for liftoff in the wee hours of the morning just before sunrise.

Chateau de la Voloniere - Our B&B

Our first stop on our trip was to the Loire Valley where we stayed in a B&B for 4 nights. It was a real Chateau from the 1500's. Our wonderful proprietor Claude, has spent the last 12 years renovating it into a B&B. Every morning we had a wonderful breakfast of fresh squeezed apple juice (from apple trees on the property), fresh croissant with nutella (I could live on croissant and nutella), fresh fruit, yogurt, bread and jam, and soft boiled eggs in little egg cups. Claude couldn't quite understand why we didn't drink coffee or tea with our breakfast, but he loved that we liked his apple juice. Breakfast wasn't until around 10 a.m. I think I should have been born in France. They sleep in and stay up late - that's me!! My mom and Jacque had to drag me out of bed every morning. I kept telling them that I was on vacation and wanted to sleep, but they actually wanted to go and see things, so I had to get up. So here are pics of our B&B in the Loire Valley.


Entrance to the property










There was even a pool, but a little to cold for me.


Claude, a wonderful host, and he spoke good English.


Our bathroom. No doors, just a curtain to pull for privacy.


Our bed on a platform. There is a small staircase on the left that went up into a loft where there was another bed.


The room where we had breakfast.


Mom and Jacque sitting down to eat.

I'M HOME!!!

I'm home from my adventures in France! It was a wonderul vacation and a much needed break for me from my mom duties. Don't get me wrong, I missed my kids, but it was wonderful to not worry about anyone but me! Here's how it started - more details with future posts. My mom, my sister Jacque and I flew into Paris on different airlines on the 4th of July. I point out the different airlines thing because that always causes adventures - this trip was no exception. While Jacque waited for both of us she got to walk back and forth between terminals (not a short walk) and after I finally landed we waited for my mom. While we waited we got to experience what happens in an airport when a bag is left unattended. We were moved out of the terminal with French security guards staring at everyone (they aren't scary by the way)until they announced to everyone that there would be a loud noise and we should cover our ears, and then..... they blew up the bag. Then my mom finally landed, we got our rental car, and then just when we thought we could leave the airport - a group of French protestors (of course they were French we were in France, I don't know why I mentioned that) blocked the road and we got to sit in the car for half an hour while they yelled about something (we don't know what) and then we finally got to leave!! So just for fun here are the first pictures I took of my trip to France.


We bought some breakfast while we waited for my mom. It was so expensive Jacque wouldn't even tell me how much. Anyway, this was Jacque's spoon with her yogurt. I think we found the secret to why the French are so skinny - they eat with baby utensils!


Protestors. I took the pictures from inside the car -you never can be too careful!!


Do these police officers look scary to you? I didn't think so.

Here is a picture to wet your appetite for my next post. This was our B&B in the Loir Valley.