Versaille

We visited Versaille on our way back to Paris.  Liam couldn't believe how long the line was and started doubting his desire to even go.  We had to do a little coaxing but got him through the line and into the palace.  The palace was pretty amazing but the gardens were even more impressive and worth the wait. We almost skipped the gardens since it was an extra fee and was cold and wet outside.  Fortunately Ben decided for all of us that since we were there we had to go and at least walk through it before we left.  We were all so glad since it ended up being the best part of the trip to Versaille.  

Amboise

Visiting the chateau in the town of Amboise was one of the days I will always remember from our trip.  It happened to be a chilly and wet day so when we finally ventured up to the chateau there was hardly a tourist in site.  The raining had just recently stopped and consequently we were able to run around the grounds and tour the chateau pretty much by ourselves.  After standing in long lines for tickets or shuffling in crowded room it felt great to be free to explore the burial place of Leonardo Da Vinci all by ourselves.

Cheverny and Leonardo Da Vinci

Cheverny was a beautiful chateau to visit and had a little different feel from the other places we had visited.  When you walk inside you can explore the first 2 floors but can't go up to the top floor because a family still lives there.  You can also hear about 50 hound dogs on the premises that are occasionally taken out for hunting.  The grounds were also beautiful and the kids preferred spending most of our time running around the gardens.  

Right in Amboise where our apartment was located is the house of Leonardo De Vinci.  Apparently he lived his last few years there and was buried nearby.  Inside felt a little more Italian and the kids loved it because there was a cat sleeping on Leonardo's bed.  Outside there were some replicas of some of his inventions and we found it to be a pretty kid friendly place. 

Chaumont and Chambord

So the photo below is of a chateau called Chaumont.  The most memorable thing about Chaumont was the rain.  The chateau sits on a cliff above a small town and river and after walking up to what we thought was the entrance we headed up a steep incline in the rain.  After carrying Lila up the long, winding, very wet and steep road we soon discovered that we had taken a wrong turn.....back down the hill and finally up another one to this majestic chateau.  Everybody wanted to kill me as the rain and wind pounded down and completely soaked us.  Despite the rain it did have a lovely courtyard and view over the river.  Ben spent 5 euros on a plastic poncho that looked like a garbage bag and broke in 5 minutes!

After recovering from our trip to Chaumont we headed to another well know chateau called Chambord.  Chambord was a hunting lodge for the French kings.  It is definitely a sight to behold even as you approach it by car.  As you can see it has more chimneys than you can count.  Three stories up it has a great view of the countryside.  It also is known for its winding exterior staircases.  This was an impressive chateau and the largest one we visited the whole trip.