The Land of Mini Châteaux

Not so far from the magical place of Amboise (pron. Ambwhaz; pict on the far left), is a little plot of land devoted to 45 miniature château replicas. The châteaux are magnificently displayed and very life-like through the intricacy and accuracy of detail. Touring the 45+ châteaux in the Loire Valley on our vacation would have taken months, so it was a good idea that we stopped to see the minis. This was a good way to also take note of future château visits in the Loire Valley. Pict on the right is the mini of Amboise. Nice job!



Left, is the château in Blois, which we also visited at the beginning of our trip. To the right, is Chambord, which is where I had my orientation in the beginning of October. That blog is posted here as well. So, you can see how accurate the replica is to the real château.



And here is the beautiful château of Chenonceau, which was built in the river. I visited it just a few weeks ago and it was spectacular! It was the château of the women nobles.

Saintes

Here we are in Saintes, a beautiful city, surrounded by a lovely river, oldness (of course), and a stunning park. Below is the church that was constructed in the 11th Century. And remnants of what's left of an arch and structure to the right.

I took this picture inside the church because I thought it was so unique with the arches overlapping like that. Great design!

Trying to get a shot of Mateo with me, but it proved to be very difficult, you can see he's still moving! And the wind, yes, that's the wind blowing my bangs, not a new hairstyle, don't worry. The river on the right.

The grand cathedral with a clock tower.

And of course, a bakery, very rustic in design. This day was all about design!

Matéo's DooDoo in Orléans

We started our vacation in Orléans, so I'm sorry to put this out of order for you! But, we visited Orléans by night (about 2 hours south of Nogent). I was the American tour guide in Orléans for Céline and family. It's funny, but since I've been there so much, I know my way around. This is the cathedral at night, but the pict is a little blury.






Most of the night we spent putting Matéo's doodoo back in his broken suitcase. The latch did not work properly, so it was rather funny to put doodoo back in the box every 2 minutes or thereabouts!




Doodoo, back in the suitcase.








And again, and again....

And finally, Matéo resolved to leave the suitcase open and carry his doodoo on his shoulder! We did this the whole trip, though, not just at the beginning!

La Rochelle

La Rochelle is a beautiful city situated on the Atlantic Ocean. We went here with Céline's friend, Stéphanie and met some of her friends there.






Right, Céline and Matéo playing in the water, yes, it was 77°F the day we went to the ocean. I'm sad I didn't bring my swimming suit.

Here we were trying to get Matéo to look at the camera. Yes, in all 4 shots!

And finally, right, he's looking at the camera!

I am safe and sound...No Worries

Hello everyone,

I just wanted everyone to know that I am safe and doing just fine in France. Some of you have expressed concern about the riots in France. The groups starting the riots are not present in Nogent, nor is Nogent a violent city. I'm far enough away from all of the ruckus and also Nogent is a very quiet and quaint city, so no worries, ok? OK! Hope everyone is doing well.

Love, Jen

Visite au Cœur du Cognac

Welcome to Cognac, France and the heart of Cognac at, as they say, the best Cognac making company, Hennessy.

During our tour of the factory/vineyard, we had a boat tour along the Charente River. It was a beautiful day and an amazing tour given by Céline's friend, Stéphanie. Below and Left is the processing machines to turn the grapes into Cognac. On the Right is a barrel of Cognac that has been preserved since 1900. Amazing! Can you imagine opening a bottle of that?! Wonder what it'll taste like?!

Left are more barrels of Cognac being preserved. The closest to you dates back to 1898! Wowzer! Right, is in the gift shop with all sorts of Cognac imaginable.

Next...Poitiers

Poitiers (pron. Pwahteeay) was one of my favorite cities because of how old it is! Amazing. On the left, this church was constructed in the 11th Century, yes 1000.







It is amazing how clean this church is because it was also constructed in the 11th Century. They are taking very good care of all of the ancient structures in Poitiers. That was what was so impressive.

Inside the church the paintings are still preserved! Amazing!

Below is Saint Peter's Cathedral. You can click on the pictures to make them bigger. Below is a description of the cathedral. It was constructed around 1160. It is one of the largest cathedrals I have ever seen, notice the grand door (right) with the actual size of the door for people to pass through.

The Vacation Begins in Blois

Hello all my friendly viewers, as I promised, of course a little late, my vacation pictures. Below is the gang: Left to Right: Arlette (Céline's mom), Marcel (Céline's dad), Me, Céline, Matéo (her son--2.5 years old). [Yes, I do realize my eyes are a bit droopy, must have been the wine ;) ]

We began our excursion around France in Blois (pron. Blwah). The château of Blois was constructed in the 13th Century and many kings and relatives lived here: Louis d'Orléans, Charles d'Orléans, Louis XII, François I, Louis XIII, Gaston d'Orléans. And during the French Revolution it was used as barracks, and later renovated by the French Government.

The interior: a Grand Piano, however, very small from the 13th Century. You can see its age by looking at those nice, white ivory piano keys. Céline and I in a small doorway, just my size! A beautiful ornament adorned in gold overhanging a fireplace. The ceiling is delicately painted with the French flag colors and the symbols of each king. The salamander on the right is the symbol of François I (which was all over Chambord because he lived there too) and on the left, the dog, is for is wife, Claude. A little arrogant with these symbols everywhere, ceilings, doors, staircases, statues, the walls, etc.

A view of the cathedral from the gardens of the château; me and Céline; Matéo agrees that the vacation has started off right with a thumbs up and some cool shades.








And of course, he can walk just fine, no he doesn't want his bicycle right now. So, Marcel is left with it packing it over his shoulder. And, don't you ever try to push the bike using its handle, Matéo can do it by himself.