Monday, October 1, 2012

Hello, crazy Chambord

France Day 1 Part II: Chambord



*note: if you click on first photo, it will "embiggen" and become a slide show.*

um. if you want.




From Blois, our destination was the Chateau de Chambord, the largest chateau in the Loire Valley, just a little ol' hunting lodge, no big deal, ha ha. 

Wow.




Built as a hunting lodge by Francois I, Chambord is basically a gorgeous pile of useless, and was scarcely ever used. Oh king, you crazy.




En garde!

Best purchase of the trip (after all the books, of course): swords!! 
From day 1, a certain little chevalier swashbuckled her way across the land, 
making photos more awesome with some drama and pointiness :-)



Yummy lunch in the chateau cafe. 




View of the parkland, of which there is much. 




On a longer trip here, one might cycle around, check out the wildlife from the hunting blinds (sans guns, one imagines) or rent a boat or a bright orange surrey. Don't you love a surrey?






(Pics with the funky blur are taken with a Lensbaby Composer Pro and Double Glass Optic. Fun!
I'm a rookie with it, much to learn, and didn't use it a ton on the trip, but I love the effect!)


(Square pics, of course, are Hipstamatic on iPhone. Love the Hipsta.)


These two pics are up on the roof, which is a crazy wonderland of turrets and domes. Seeing them in passing just now, Jim said, "What are we doing here?" which has been our sentiment lately: why do we not live in Europe? WHY? 




I have this vague notion now of beginning some sort of lifelong odyssey to see as many castles as possible -- in France yes, but the rest of Europe too. Think Germany, Scotland, Russia ... Hm. I sense this odyssey getting quickly out of hand. A lifetime would not be enough to see the castles in France alone. It's crazy the way you can be driving along on a minor road in, say, the Loire Valley, and catch glimpses of castles in passing that are not at all famous, just another chateau ho hum. They are everywhere. And oh, I love them. The splurge of our trip was to stay a night in a castle, and oh my was it lovely and fine. I'll show you it in a few posts. 

Hm. I'm going to start a post tag "castles" as a first step in my new odyssey :-) Done!




Goodnight, crazy Chambord!




9 comments:

Irene said...

Wow.. These pictures are gorgeous!

Becca said...

I have been to Germany but never France. I guess I know where I will be going on my next vacation!

amy said...

Fantastic!

LinWash said...

Lovely pix! And you made me very hungry with one of them.

Jenn said...

So adorable! Love the Jim and Clem pics with swords! She's like a little Lionel with hers!

Amber said...

brought back fond memories... Lovely pics!

:)

June G said...

Clem-Pie is getting big!

Shveta said...

I've only been to Paris, no other part of France. Someday (soon) . . .

Yay, castles! And yay for girls with swords! (I'm totally a fan of both.)

I was also blown away by how long Clementine's hair has gotten!

Now time to go read the next post.

Kate said...

LOVE these pictures!!!!!! :) :) :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...