In the night garden....

My sadness at leaving Paris was forgotten the moment we pulled onto the long winding driveway, flanked by dense forest, to find Chateu du Breuil awaiting us for our stay on the Loire valley.  It was just as I had hoped, a quaint historic building, stunning both outside and in.

The rooms were beautifully appointed with modern provincial furniture and styling, and the rest of the chateau (including huge outdoor heated pool on the edge of the forest) were maintained tastefully.    It was hard to leave for our day trip the next day.

With literally hundreds of Chateau and wineries in the Loire valley, and only one whole day to visit them, we decided to do one Chateau (Chambord) and one winery (Domaine De Montcy - Cherverny) during the day, allowing us some down time by the pool in the afternoon before heading out again in the evening.

Chambord Castle is stunning and it was a joy to visit a castle out of Paris, no crowds!

Chambord is the largest château in the Loire valley.   It was built to serve as a hunting lodge for Francois I. The original design of the Château de Chambord is attributed, though with several doubts, to Domenico de Cortona.  Though some say that Leonardo da Vinci ( who retired to the area) may have had some influence on the design.  

Chambord took many years to construct (1519–1547).

After Chambord we visited the beautiful town of Blois where we at lunch and had a wander about.  We took in the St. Louis Cathedral and the beautiful cobbled streets.  

Right across from our Chateau was the organic winery of Domaine de Montcy.  We had tried their rosé    the night before (I am so in love with rosé right now!) and it was divine so decided it would be our winery of choice. It was an understated cellar door but we were greeted by the most delightful fellow who treated us like old friends for the duration of our visit.  We tried many varietals  and were blown away by the flavours.  On site they grew: Chardonnay, savignon, Pinot noir, gamay, and the local grape Romorontin. Their organic blends resulted in some delightful wines, many of which we took with us to share with friends on the riviera next week (including a couple of bottles of kids champagne "sans alkool" which our "friend" had been pouring Fin throughout our visit). As we popped into the warehouse to pick up our wine, we noted a wall absolutely covered in awards.
Ken asked him why they kept the awards out the back away from view. He said "we want our visitors to decide for themselves about our wines, that is what it is all about". Great philosophy.

After afternoon swims and snoozes, we headed out to a delightful town on the Loire River, Amboise. Stunning town in the shadows of the Chateau Amboise. With bellies full we then drove to Chateau Chenonceau, which reopens at 9.30pm during July and August to show off it's castle and gardens by night, flooded in light.  It was so stunning. The kids ran through garden mazes which had just the right amount if light hitting them, spotting a deer in the forest as they came out the other side.

A short walk through the forest the took us to the castle, bathed beautifully in golden light and classical music echoing out of it. It was magical.  The Manicured gardens and fountains surrounding  the castle were also tastefully lit up and we spent some time soaking up the beauty of it.
It was 11pm by the time we left, feeling that we had visited a special place.  We were delighted to see as we watched the Tour de France the next day, that this very castle was featured, as the riders went speeding past.

Pics below: Our Chateau Du Breiul, Chambord, Kids and I in Blois, and Our night visit to Chateau Chenonceau.... Xoxo

The happiest place on earth...

So, is Disneyland Paris the happiest place on earth? Well, as I skipped my way through Fantasyland with my daughter on Monday, I would have to say it goes pretty close (though from what I hear, Finley wasn't exactly embracing this motto as he lined up for the epic ride - SPACE MOUNTAIN - but more on that later).

We decided to go to Disneyland Paris ( with mates Michael and Ryan, ready to channel their inner child) on our last day in Paris.  We knew it was going to be very busy with not only tourists but Parisians on school holidays.  We arrived at opening time and agreed that our visit should start with a group visit to Pirates of the Carribean.  It was a fun ride with lots to see around every corner.  See dodgy pic below of us all on the ride, a variety of expressions on our faces.  This ride was a great warm up for the rest of the day.

After this we split up.  The boys all headed to Adventureland whilst Miss Kenz and I headed to Fantasyland.  I let Kenz set the itinerary which saw us visit Alice in Wonderlands Labyrinth,  Sleeping Beauty's castle, The Carousel, and my personal favourite, the Its a Small World Ride.  This last ride really was a magical ride full of colour and everything fairy tale. The pics don't do it justice.  It felt like being in the latest Willy Wonker movie only better.... It was special and I loved sharing it with my daughter.

Meanwhile, as we blissed our way through Fantasyland, the boys were in Adventureland seeing how much they could scare themselves.  When we caught up with them later on, they were still buzzing from the adrenalin of Space Mountain.  Ken described the Paris version of this ride as the scariest ride he had ever been on, and he has done a few.  This synopsis left me wondering how the ten year old coped with all this.  Well, despite every attempt to escape the line on the way to the ride (no thanks to comments from Uncle Ryan who was rather jittery himself) he made it through to the other side, feeling that little bit more of a man.

With Space mountain conquered, Ryan and Michael felt that nothing could make Their Disney experience better, and decided to head back to Paris to enjoy their last afternoon in St Germain.  As the lines started to build up, we started to feel the same.  We decided that our next visit, we would stay in one of the hotels and enjoy the park for a couple of days.

We enjoyed our last evening in Paris with a lovely dinner and a walk around St Germain with the boys... It was a blissful way to end the Paris leg of our journey... Next stop... Loire Valley xoxo

Montmartre, and dinner truly french style....

We took the kids on the train up to the rather touristy but still visit-worthy Montmarte today, a highlight for us was taking the kids back to our favourite little gallery in Paris, the Dali gallery.  We were delighted to see that it had grown significantly since we were last there.  Mackenzie loved the Alice in Wonderland inspired theme of some of the works.  Finley was rather "freaked out" by some of the images but found it interesting.

After resting up a short while my old school friend Dazza arrived and we took the train to meet or french tutor and her brother for dinner.  We were also joined by Ryan, Michael, and their gorgeous friend Alwynn. Celia asked us to meet her at a restaurant her father recommended.  It was Charretier, 7 rue Fabourg.    It was a beautiful old French restaurant, with several stern maitre de holding court at the doorway.  Even at 6.45 this place was heaving with diners indulging in the traditional fare of escargot, and confit de canard, amongst other delights.  The menu is only in French and the wait staff  also only speak in French so be prepared should you ever want to check it out!   This place does 2000 covers a day, and as we left around 9pm, there were queues outside of people desperate to get their piece of this extremely well priced fare.  Around 200 euro covered dinner for ten of us (3 courses plus all beverages).

Dinner followed by G&Ts and banter at the bar down the road. Good fun.... Pics below of all of the above. Xoxo