First Day in France

After 24 hours of travel, a five hour flight, a two hour layover, and 8 hour flight and a three hour drive, we finally made it to the Loire Valley. No choice now but to stay up and keep pushing till at least the sun goes down.

After driving south from Paris, we stopped in the medieval village of Loches, where they had a Sarurday Market underway.  The village still has narrow cobble stone streets from the 1100 -1400 period and a castle, a keep and medieval era churches overlooking the village.  By 4 pm we returned to our own Chateau where we will be based for the next four days.  Chateau Villaine is located in the countryside outside a small village called Esveres, about 30 minutes south of Tours.  

Out host Adrian greated us at the door and gave us a tour of his home, 12 rooms and he rents four as a B&B.  He and his wife, Joke, are Dutch and speak excellent English.  The Chateau was built in the early 1800's and retains all of its character.  It is set on beautiful grounds with trails, cherry trees and friendly dogs!

Now it is 6:30 and we are so tired that we can't see straight. Looking forward to a long sleep and then a fun first full day of enjoying France.  We plan to head to Chinon, Alzay, and Villandry to visit chateaus, gardens and maybe a local winery.

First day impressions of France:

- driving was easy.

- the language was tough. I totally can't understand French or read menus and no one in our first restaurant spoke English.  The were friendly but the language was frustrating.

- it is green and beautiful here.

Enough for now. Good night all.