I mentioned earlier that spring was blooming here. The lilacs are blooming now and they're absolutely gorgeous and they smell great too.
The other chateau that we visited was Chenonceau. The front of this castle was draped and undergoing renovations, so we didn't get good pictures of the front, but you can see how different the stone looks after its been cleaned.
Chenonceau, like many castles had a chapel within its walls. This castle had a separate second floor entrance adjacent to the queens quarters so she could enter the service privately. Also, this castle's chapel was used as temporary housing for many of the Louvre's pieces of art during WWII.
On our way home from Normandy, Larry and I spent a night in the Loire Valley. This area is famous for its many chateaux. We spent a night in a hotel that was once the servants quarters for the Chateau Chambord. Below are views we had from our room and from the Chateau back towards the hotel.
The Chateau Chambord was used primarily as a hunting retreat and today it has a natural park that contains deer and wild boar. One of the interesting features of this castle is the double spiral staircase. That allowed for guests not to have to pass each other on the stairs, though it was open enough so that you could see the people going down the other side while you were going up.
The king François (Francis) I's emblem was the salamander and you could see salamanders throughout the castle.
Another of the castles features is there are enough fireplaces in it for every day of the year.
Last week on our way to dropping the Wrights and Walters at a train stop headed into Paris, we stopped in the town of Giverny. I mentioned in earlier blogs how much I enjoyed the Impressionist painters and this town is home to Monet. The six of us spent a couple of hours wandering the gardens of Monet (now part of a nonprofit foundation). Spring flowers were in full bloom and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds long enough for us to get a good impression of how the differing light effected Monet's painting.
We took some great pictures. You can see how this place still inspires artists.
We had been looking forward to visiting this part of France for the rich American History it holds. We certainly weren't disappointed. We started our visit in the town, Arromanches, where there are remnants of the Mulberry Harbours placed there for Operation Overlord. This was very interesting as neither Larry nor I knew about how the Allies constructed a portable harbor in England for the invasion and traveled the pieces across the English channel in great secrecy for D-Day landings.
We traveled down the coastline and saw a stretch of land that housed several Nazi cannon bunkers.
We ended our visit at the American cemetery at Omaha Beach. It was very impressive and humbling. I think the pictures of the cemetery speak for themselves.
On our way to Normandy, we stopped briefly at Mont St. Michel. This island rises out of a very flat horizon. During high tide, this community is an island connected to the mainland by a causeway. During low tide one can walk all the way to the town without getting one's feet wet. When we arrived, it was low tide, but the tide was starting to come in as we were leaving.
10 years ago I chaperoned Nick's HS choir on the first European choir tour. During the week of spring break 2000, I traveled with 65 students and 20 or so adults through parts of Germany and Austria. It was during this time that I met Colleen and Lois.
To make a long story short, during the trip we became good friends and gained the reputation by the kids as "the 3 Threat." Since that trip, we meet once a month for dinner and catch up on each others lives. During the last 10 years we have shared so many moments: weddings, births, deaths, sicknesses, joys, and oh so many little daily moments. And we occasionally invite our husbands to join us for the evening :D
This past year Colleen and Lois carried on our tradition with me joining them "in spirit" but we all took the opportunity to travel again. They (with their husbands Rick and Tim) joined us here in Toulouse. We showed them the sites and then the 6 of us climbed into a "minivan" and headed to Normandy. We spent a couple of days with them before dropping them off at a train station headed for Paris.
Right now some of the prettiest gardens are in various roundabouts here in Toulouse. The largest roundabout near our apartment is in full bloom and it's fabulous.
Last week marked the beginning of our spring visitor season. Shakopee School's spring break was the last week in March and Libby, Dianne, and Jill spent 4 days with us in the South of France. We brought them to our house and enjoyed some wine and cheese on the terrace. We heard about their adventures in Paris and shared with them some local lore.
The next day we said goodbye to Larry and I drove (yes, I actually got over my fear of driving with these "crazy" french drivers) us "girls" to Provence. We drove to St. Baume where we saw "La Grotte de Sainte Marie Madelaine." Supposedly that is the location where Mary Magdalene fled to after Christ's crucifixion. We drove up a mountain to get there (I wasn't even white knuckled) and the grotto was still a 45 minute walk up the side of a rock face.
