So it's still Thursday, June 12th - we are driving back to Blois in the rain. By the time we arrive at the Royal Chateau de Blois, the rain has been nice enough to stop & we tour the chateau. This chateau was one built by & for royalty & like many of the others, developed over hundreds of years. The interesting thing about it, tho, is that unlike the others, the old part wasn't razed to make way for the new so here you can see 3 VERY different styles of architecture in one chateau. This makes for an odd appearance but interesting study - see the pix in the photos section. This was another chateau that Catherine de Medici had lived in & actually died here. It contains a room with 230+ wood panels - 4 of which are secret compartments where she kept her poisons. It is also where the Duke of Guise was murdered in 1588 by order of Catherine de Medici's evil son, King Henry III.

After touring this castle, we headed back to Aunt Rose-Marie's. Don took a nap while she & I visited about our day. She enunciates very clearly & doesn't speak at 100 mph so I am surprisingly able to understand most everything she says. This was one area of great frustration for me previously & I am thrilled to find that as I'm here longer, I am able to understand more of what I hear. Being able to saying what you want or at least get your point across is one thing but you still have to be able to understand the answer! Rose-Marie & I spent about 2 hrs. talking about the various chateaux, French history, the city of Blois, their family history, etc. It was a lovely time of getting to know her better. She fixed us a lovely dinner & sent us off to bed relatively early, knowing that we must be tired. We were!

In the am, (Fri., June 13th), we again enjoyed breakfast with her, said our good-byes & merci beaucoups & hit the road early. We drove into Blois & found a parking garage. I had picked up a Walking Tour guide at the Visitor's Office the previous day & we'd selected 1 of the 4 tours to get to know the city & it's history & sights better. The tour we selected took us into some of the old parts of Blois where we found half timbered houses dating back 700 yrs. We saw the monument to Joan of Arc & the lovely garden it stands in along the Loire River. Joan of Arc had gathered her army here in Blois before marching with it to the city of Orleans (V's parents live in a suburb of this city) to free it from the English.

Once done with the tour, we woke up Jack (our GPS buddy) & headed for Olivet to Vincent's parent's home. We took time to look around Orleans & have lunch at yet another charming sidewalk cafe. When we finally drove to the Quentin's, we found them not at home - but a quick call told us that they were shopping & would arrive soon. Sure enough, a few minutes later they came strolling down the street, each carrying one handle of a woven shopping basket. I could see fresh baguette peeking out!

We drug our suitcases upstairs & settled in a bit. We helped a little with dinner & visited. About 8:20 pm, Jenna & Vincent arrived, having driven from Bordeaux - 4 1/2 hrs. Vincent had worked from 4 am to noon, then helped a friend, Elizabeth (the 1 who gave him the cat) move to a new apt. He then ran home, picked up Jenna & they drove north. He was tired but we enjoyed a nice dinner & visit before heading to bed. We even got to visit with the children back home as the Quentins' have Skype!

After breakfast the next am (Sat., June 14th), we ran into Orleans to get a gift for one of the children (Jonathan!) as we'd seen Vincent with a new thing we thot he'd like. We then had lunch in the Quentin's new sunroom & helped to prep for the reception they were hosting so that friends & neighbors could meet Jenna. Aunt Rose-Marie arrived early & of course set right to work helping with the preparations. She knew where everything was & just how it should be done - I was, therefore, her shadow.

Soon enough, guests began to arrive. It was anOpen House-style event so people came & went throughout the afternoon. Several lovely floral pieces had been delivered as gifts & more gifts came with the well-wishers. Don smiled & nodded a lot & told me in no uncertain terms not to leave him alone. He was worried someone would say something & he wouldn't understand, let alone not being a large group-type of person.We met lots of wonderful people, Tanguy's mother & Thomas' dad (who looked an awful lot like James Garner!) among them. Another one of the female scouts came with her new fiance & Laure came, too. It was nice to see a familiar face (& one that spoke English, too, was nice for Don.) Several of the women, Thomas' mom included, were from a group of mothers who back when the children were young had formed a group to teach the children English. Several of them commented that back then, none of them ever imagined that one of the kids would grow up to marry an English speaker but it was fun to see how that had all come together over the years. Yes, God was at work orchestrating back then, too!

A couple of old computer game buddies of V's & their girlfriends, stayed for dinner. Gerard, V's dad, grilled shishkabobs in the back yard & numerous side dishes were set out. We all enjoyed the lovely evening in the backyard & in the sunroom. In typical French fashion, the meal started late & progressed slowly - no rush here, whatsoever. Once done, around midnight, we all cleaned up a few things & headed for bed. It had been a casual, fun day & we were so glad to have been able to share it with J & V. They even ended the day with a Father's Day gift for Don!!!

Sunday morning, June 15th, Don greeted me with a "Happy Anniversary!" Our actual wedding date is October 15th but we have, for 25 years, always acknowledged the 15th of every month in some small way since our wedding in 1983. Gerard & Catherine had planned a kayaking trip for the 4 of them for the day so Don & I headed for Chartres to see the famous cathedral there.

It was a hard morning for me, I felt the loss of Jenna in a deeper way as I was leaving her in a foreign country this time with no way of knowing for sure when we'd be together again. Tears were shed & lots of hugs given but we eventually said good-bye & drove away. Losses are such a hard reality in life. I know I have known nothing compared to many but at times in the last year or so, it has felt like a lot. I miss Jenna every day & always will. She is a treasure.

On the road, we once again, wound our way down tiny country roads & past pastures & roadsides absolutley covered in red poppies - one of my favorites. Don was very kind & pulled over, again, to let me take pictures - see the photo section.We arrived in Chartres about 10:45. The cathedral was obviously under major renovation which was great for posterity but not necessarily for us, wanting to see it today. We took a few pictures from the outside & went in, with a surprisingly large number of other people - it is famous but not in the top 5 things in the Paris region to visit. Once inside, we realized the situation - duh! It was Sunday morning & this is a church - there was Mass being held! We (& other visitors) walked around quietly, taking a few photos but soon felt like we needed to leave. It will be good to visit again in a few years when the renovation is completed & NOT on a Sunday morning! I am glad restoration is being done - this particular cathedral has long been considered worthy of care - it is famous for its 176 stained glass windows (surface area of more than 28,000 sq. ft.) dating from the 1200's & these were ALL removed & placed in caves for preservation during both WWI & WWII.

We then drove straight to Paris & Jack took us right to the door of our hotel. We arrived about 1:20 & found the door locked.....the desk personnel had gone to lunch - from noon to 2:00 - it's France! So we wondered around the neighborhood, trying to get familiar with our home for  the next week. We bought a couple of sandwiches & ate them while walking back. The hotel was now open & we checked in. I was really watching the clock as the plan was to visit the gardens of the palace at Versaille that afternoon. The famous fountains only run on Sundays & I didn't want to miss it. We then located the Hertz rental car office (once again with Jack's faithful assistance) & found that it wasn't open until 4 pm! Ughhh! So, we sat in the car & waited an hour just to return the car. By now, it was too late to find the metro, buy tickets, find the right train & get to Versailles. Oh, well. We decided to just have a relaxing evening instead. We unpacked, found a pizzaria down the block & then crashed! 

We had an amazingly busy week, so if you want to follow along, buckle your seats belts securely & hold onto your hats!

The B&B was very nice - when we arrived, the owner greeted us & started to give us the lowdown on how things worked. He was an American, retired from the military & he & his American wife had retired to Normandy. They had renovated an old home & done a great job. When his wife arrived, she took over the instructions & showed us to our top-floor room. The bottom staircase was narrow & the top section VERY steep with low ceilings all along the way - this made for a rather humorous picture each time Don went up or down, especially lugging an enormous suitcase while wearing a backpack! Our room was lovely & well-furnished. It consisted of a small room with a twin bed that I used for a dressing room & this joined a large room with a bed & bath. The door, no, make that the OPENING that connected the 2 rooms was actually a 1/2 door since this was once the attic.Watching Don bend in half & then try to move his feet so as to get thru the opening was a riot - until I topped the show by smacking MY head into the top of the opening!  I'm not used to having to watch MY head!

We headed into the nearby town of Bayeux for dinner & found a restaurant with good pizza. The town had a beautiful cathedral which we took the time to wander around & then a good night's sleep was next in order.

The following morning, Mon., June 9th, we had a nice breakfast of fresh French pastries & incredible yogurt that the hostess actually drives to the other end of Normandy to buy from the farmer who makes it with the same day's milking. Then, we hit the road for the Normandy/D-Day beaches, with Jack (our GPS buddy) taking us thru lovely French woods & tiny villages with unbelieveably winding & narrow roads. We had looked at maps, talked with the B&B owner & consulted our guidebook to France. We finally decided to start at the western-most end of the D-Day sites, St. Mere Elgise - a tiny village where gliders & paratroopers had landed in the pre-dawn hours of June 6th, 1944 (this was June 9th, so there were remains of anniversary events) & liberated the town. If you have ever seen WWII photos of a paratrooper hanging from the corner of a church, suspended by his snagged parachute, this is where that actually occurred.

The town is home to a very nice museum at which we spent time looking at the display cases filled with donated memorabilia - photos, letters, helmets, newspaper clippings, equipment, etc. It was a very personal-story-kind of museum & we felt like we had heard from the men themselves who had served there.

From there we drove a short distance east to Utah Beach - as it was code named & so it is still referred to.On this day, it was quiet & mostly deserted but one could easily imagine the hell that had once been the reality on this shore. It was a sobering experience. 

The emotions stayed with us as we moved on to Point du Hoc where 225 Army Rangers scaled impossible heights to take out German guns aimed at the beaches where wave upon wave of men would be dropped. They reached the top & fought bravely for 2 days before reinforcements arrived - only 90 survived. A true story of amazing courage.

From there, we continued east to Omaha Beach & were once again struck by the history in front of us. But if we thought this was moving, we had yet to visit the American Cemetery & walk among the row after row after row after row after row of white marble crosses & stars of David. So many men, so much sacrifice. Words fail me.

Emotionally drained, we headed a little south back to Bayeux for a quick lunch & to tour the famous Bayeux tapestry. This fascinating window into a event in history & of life during this time has been remarkably well-preserved. The audioguides which we rented told us the story, scene by scene. Well worth studying, if you haven't already. Are you still with us? Remember, this is all in one day! And it's not over yet....

The afternoon was wearing away so we ate in the car as we drove to our next war site, Arromanches, where the remains of the amazing man-made harbor can still be seen. During WWII, the Germans rightly believed that they could hold the coast as there were no natural harbors - the water was too shallow for ships. So, the British Corps of Engineers designed & constucted a harbor & towed it across the English Channel (La Manche in French) to this seaside town. It actually consisted of supports that floated numerous roadways out into the sea so that ships could pull up & deliver men, equipment & supplies. It was an amazing feat - again, worth studying.

Our trek east continued to 1 more point, Pegasus Bridge, where the 1st liberators arrived on D-Day. We arrived just before the museum closed but were able to gain info about the events which made this unusual bridge so famous & to see it before heading on to the city of Caen. There we stretched our legs, taking in the sights of this ancient city & climbed to the ramparts of the old castle. This gave us a great view of the city & the cathedral. We then decided to get dinner, as this larger city offered more choices. And here, even after 25 years of marriage, Don got a lesson in "we're not finding a place with food & plopping our exhausted bodies into seats, we're shopping for just the right place to eat" & Michelle got a much-needed refresher course in " How NOT to Make Your Husband CRAZY!"

So, sleep fast & take a sack breakfast with you the next morning (Tue., June 10th) as we head west once more for the border of Normandy & Brittany. (If I thot Don hauling the suitcases UP that tiny staircase was funny, the trip down was even better!) Here, since the 9th century, stands an amazing church & Benedictine monastery - built on a tiny island just off the coast. As we approached, it was just like all the pictures I'd ever scene - turrets & spires rising up out of the land - stretching toward the sky. We had to stop several miles away just so I could drink in the sight.

We spend most of the day, climbing tiny, twisting walkways up, up, up thru the village that has grown up around the church & thru the well-preserved abbey & monastery. Again, the audioguides proved to be very educational.  We also toured the former dungeons & a tiny museum where we got to see a real pirate's treasure chest!

We bought yummy sandwiches of Camenbert cheese & lettuce on long crunchy baguettes & enjoyed them sitting on an ancient wall along the walkway but as the day passed, the crowds grew, especially groups of school children taking the end-of-the-year trips to educational venues. The tiny streets were packed so we saw this as our cue to leave. Not having known how long it would take to see everything, I had booked us into a hotel in a town about 1 hour away. We were wanting to get part way down the road so we'd have a jump on the next day's plans. But now, we found ourselves on the road mid-afternoon & decided that we could make it all the way to our next destination, the town of Saumur on the Loire River.

I love the 21st century & all its technology! We called Melissa on our international phone & she found & booked us a hotel in Saumur on the internet while cancelling our other room. We wanted to make sure the cancellation had been received, though, so as we drove thru that town, we stopped. In spite of the internet's clear statement that cancellations could be made until 6 pm of the same day, the little Frenchman behind the desk was not very happy - oh well, c'est la vie! (That's life!)

However, as we drove on to Saumur, Don received a call on his Blackberry. It was the internet company saying that the room room Mel had booked for us was actually not available as the hotel was full! Great! But another room in a nearby hotel had been arranged for us - only problem was they didn't have an exact address for Jack. Deciding to ask for directions at the hotel where Mel had originally made a reservation, we found that the other hotel had never received the reservation & they were full too! Now we're too far to go back to the other little town & quite sure that the upset little Frenchman would not be happy to see us again, so we decide to pray. The nice woman at the hotel desk says that they had a cancellation just 30 min. before & we could have that room if we want, but it's just a little more money. Not a problem - we're ready to crash for any halfway reasonable price!!! Thank you, Lord, once again! We dined at a sidewalk cafe along the Loire River & rested well.

Next day, Wed., June 11th, found us exploring the lovely, fairytale-like town. We went to the chateau but found that it was under major renovation & would not be open for another 5 years. The view from there of the town & Loire were lovely though.

We also visited the Cadre Noir - the famous French Equestrian Academy & wished the whole time that Faith was with us - it was fascinating! A guide gave us the history, toured us thru the stables & allowed us to watch a training session in the beautiful indoor arena. The gaits & jumps that these horses are trained to do is astounding - we could have sat mesmerized all day! The academy is about 600 acres in size, houses 400 horses & the training is very similar to the Lippizoner horses that are well-known. Each trainer works with 5-6 horses, 1 hour per day with each. There are 2 vets in residence & each horse is seen by 1 of them daily. Quite impressive!

We'd seen references to a unique feature of this part of the Loire Valley - limestone caves that had been enlarged & used as dwellings for centuries. These dwellings are referred to as troglodyte settlements & some were even used as homes up until aout 20 years ago. We decided to investigate.....

Sure enough, not too far down the road from Saumur was a group of these caves which had been preserved as a museum in the tiny village of Rochemenier. Most of them contained tools, equipment & household items that appeared to be from what would be the pioneer days to us. While interesting enough, I just don't do cool, dark, dank dwellings & was a little creeped out to think of women & families actually living in such places. We hit the road, headed for our 1st chateau - Chateau d'Usse. The Loire Valley is famous for it's MANY chateaux & we wanted to see several. This one was actually set just off the Loire on another river, the Indre & with it's white turrets was the inspiration for Charles Perrault's story, Sleeping Beauty.

On the stretch, we learned just how important it is to watch the miles tick down on the GPS. When Jack told us to exit, we realized we were in the wrong lane & zipped past. Unfortunately, we were on a turnpike with the next exit about 20 km down the road! Oh, well - as it turned out, we didn't have to backtrack much as the chateau was in between the 2 exits. Like many of the chateaux of the region, this one was not a palace but a private residence of a wealthy family. The owners still live in the non-public part. The grounds were lovely & the chateaux & it's history interesting. The Sleeping Beauty line was overdone with wax figures & Disney music in one tower, but aside from this cheesy bit of commercialization, it was lovely.

From there we drove a short distance further east up the Loire Valley to the Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau. This beauty, also on the Indre River was a private residence, too. The audioguides gave us a history of the mansion, the furnishings & the grounds.

Tired from a busy day & with still a drive ahead of us (we were headed to the city of Blois, Vincent's birthplace, to stay with his Great-Aunt Rose-Marie) we made a quick stop at the Chateau de Villandry. We chose to only tour the renowned gardens & what a sight they were! Words are inadequate - check out the pictures! It was fun, while there, to spot a young, blond American boy who had an uncanny resemblence to someone I married 25 years ago - find the pic to see what Don looked like back then!

Jack then got us right to Rose-Marie's apt. - a large, lovely home on the top floor of a very nice building overlooking the Loire River. She had prepared us a very nice dinner & then we fell into bed, believe it or not!

We'll finish the rest of the week next time......