Location: Tours, France

We started the morning by visiting Chāteau de Chenonceau, one of the most famous chāteau in the Loire Valley. There are all sorts of sordid, “soap opera” history here, and our guide – who is a medieval history PhD student – gave us many details. Like our visits yesterday you can see the changes of technology and design philosophy as the buildings were upgraded and added onto over the years.

We spent several hours walking thru the buildings and the gardens. Apparently, this is the first building that had a central hallway – before you had to walk thru rooms to get from one side of the house to the other. There are plenty of tapestries, and there are tapestry-like pillow covers for sale in the gift shop. I found the “cats as royalty” versions fun.

After lunch we then drove to Chāteau de Chambord, perhaps the model for all Disney castles.

Finally, here’s our hotel, Chāteau d’Artigny – made by the perfumer Francois Coty.

I’m not a fan of “old house hotels” – the floors aren’t flat, the stairs are narrow and rickety, the rooms are laid our strangely. It was fine, and I understand staying in something like a chāteau when you are visiting them, but I don’t need to come back.

This was a fun tour and I am glad I traveled deeper into France. It’s a five-hour bus ride tomorrow to return to the ship in St. Malo and then it’s London and home.