Loire Valley Trip.. Part 1

Wow. So much to catch up on!! This weekend has gone by so fast!! Friday night we went over to the Cite Universite (where a few of GT kids live) and had some wine/partying over there.. pretty fun and we wanted to take it easy because we had to be at the train station (luckily right near our apartment) at 9 a.m. for our trip to the Loire Valley! It was amazing.. we got to see 3 different chateaus, stayed in an 11th century Abbey and also got to see the Chatres Cathedral.. we got to go all the way up into one of the towers...!!  Seriously so scary though.. not a fan. But it was awesome.

I took about 500 pictures you guys. No joke. This is starting to get out of hand. Might need to invest in an external hard drive in case my computer freaks out one day... just saying, Nance.

The first one we went to was Chateau de Chenonceau, or The Ladies' Chateau. It was given to Diane de Portiers, who was King Henry II's favorite lady, by the King. When he died in a simple jousting tournament, his wife, Catherine de' Medici, took it over.

Chateau de Chenonceau.. pretty!

This chateau was also pretty cool because it served as a hospital during both World Wars and also during WWII it was on the border of German occupied France and neutral France, so people were shuttled through it.  Little history lesson for everyone!

The Five Queens Bedroom

The interior was stunning.. but probably the best part was the exterior and the gardens.. soo pretty

love this shot!!

A bunch of us, being adorable.

Next we went to Villandry, and we didn't go into the actual castle, just got to see the gardens. All 7 of them. They were HUGE and soo pretty.

Chateau!

The Ornamental Garden: Each one of the squares represents a different "stage" of love! cute.

wine grapes growing on the paths.. YUM.

So that was day one of our trip. I have WAY more pictures on facebook too.. so check those out!! I love reading everyones comments too :) but I'll have to do day 2 tomorrow since its 1 a.m. here and we have French class at 10! 

Tonight we went over to the other apartment and had tacos (yum) and also walked to the Sacre Coure? (Spelling has never been my strong point. Especially not in French.) Church on the highest point of Paris. It was an amazing view! I tried to take some pictures, not sure how they turned out. Will update tomorrow! So tired!

Miss and love all of you back home! Atlanta and VA :)

xoxo,

-A