France -- Amboise day 1

Today (22 June 2010) we woke up ~7 am to get ready for our visit to Chateau Chenonceau. Mom had hurt her knee the day before at the Toulouse train station so she decided to rest at the hotel while Judy and I visited the castle in the morning. We walked to the tourist information center (TI) and bought tickets for Chenonceau before we walked to the bus stop to catch the 9:47 am bus to Chenonceaux. After a 20 minute bus ride, we arrived at our destination and made our way to the beautiful chateau.

First we walked around the Poitier garden and viewed Chenonceau from the outside, looking at its arches over the river.

After that, we went inside and visited all of the rooms – some were pretty crowded, but they were all beautiful and well preserved. I especially liked the kitchen on the bottom floor and all of the tapestries in the bedrooms.

After our thorough tour of the castle’s insides, Judy and I visited the 16th century farm and vegetable garden for a while. After seeing the gardens and stopping at the gift shop to buy some post cards, it was time to return to the bus stop to catch the only returning bus of the day (12:27 pm).

We arrived back in Amboise and walked back to the hotel to reunite with mom and have lunch. We walked to the main plaza area near the Chateau d’Amboise and had sandwiches and Oranginas in a café on a side street.

Next, we walked around, peeping into various gift shops before returning to the hotel for a break. Mom had a doctor’s appointment at 4:30 pm for her knee and we all went. She was diagnosed with a twisted ligament. We picked up medicines as a nearby pharmacy before having “dinner” at the chocolaterie/patisserie Bigot. We all enjoyed our refreshing sundaes: I had a Jaconde sundae with pear sorbet, peaches, sour cherries, and whipped cream.

After our meal, we visited a cathedral on the main street (near the Loire river) before walking back to our hotel to turn in for the night. Tomorrow: another full day in Amboise!

France -- Carcassonne to Amboise

This morning (21 June 2010) mom, Judy, and I got ready around 8 am and by 9 am, after taking some final looks at La Cité (and kitties on walls/rooftops), we dragged our luggage downstairs and checked out of Hotel du Pont Vieux. We walked to the post office to buy stamps and mail post cards (I mailed Shannon’s Carcassonne kitty heart post card), then we continued to Place Carnot for breakfast (café crèmes). We also bought some pastries and sandwiches for the trains (a long trip today to Amboise in the Loire Valley).

We arrived at the train station ~11 am and boarded our train bound for Toulouse a half hour later. We took this regional train and travelled to Toulouse (1 hour) where we transferred to a TGV bound for Tours (St Pierre-des-Corps). The TGV took 5 hours and we enjoyed our snacks while looking at sights out the window.

Finally, in Tours, we transferred to our final train to Amboise (10 minutes!). We arrived in Amboise ~7:10 pm and caught a taxi from the train station to our hotel: Hotel Le Blason. I really liked the rustic look of this old, restored (16th century) hotel – I especially liked the wood beams in the ceiling. We stayed in room 118 – one floor up from the reception desk.

Judy and I ventured out to find some food in town to bring back to the hotel. Amboise is a very cute and lively little town! We eventually found a sandwich place with take-away on Rue Victor Hugo (across from the chateau) and brought our Panini sandwiches and Oranginas back to the hotel where we watched the World Cup. We spent the night relaxing and planning our first full day in Amboise tomorrow.

France -- Carcassonne day 2

Today (20 June 2010) mom, Judy, and I woke up around 8 am to a beautiful, sunny view of La Cité outside our window. We got ready and walked up to La Cité around 9 am. On our short walk we saw a really cool sight: a hummingbird moth (Hemaris sp.) flying around enjoying nectar from the flowers (especially the foxtails) on the side of the trail!

Before going into the walled city, we visited the cemetery outside the Narbonne Gate. After that, we entered La Cité via the big bridge over the moat. We toured the area around the walls (between the inner and outer walls), wandering around and admiring the view of the outlying lands.

Once we arrived at the St. Nazaire Tower, we entered the city near the cathedral. We visited the Basilique St. Nazaire and it was really beautiful. I especially liked all the colorful stained glass windows and the gargoyles.

After seeing the cathedral, we walked around the small streets interlacing La Cité, stopping at shops along the way. We had café crèmes and croissants at a little café for breakfast. We wandered everywhere, visiting the ramparts and outer walls of the city – it was a sunny day, but with a lot of strong, chilly wind. Mom bought me a Carcassonne souvenir: a little cloth mat with an image of the walled city of Carcassonne on it (thanks mom!).

We continued our wanderings and eventually stopped for lunch in Place Marcou at a place called Le Trouvère. I had a (fairly rare) steak haché with pomme frites and Orangina which was really good – the fries in France are the best!

Next, we visited souvenir stores on the main street (Rue Cros May) and I bought the following items: 1 cinnamon Carcassonne soap (for Shannon), 4 post cards, 3 home-made lollipops, and 4 caramels (2 vanilla and 2 fleur de sel). We continued wandering and took a break at a café for warm drinks (I had caramel tea). Here’s where something unexpected happened – I got trapped in the bathroom! The sliding lock got stuck and I couldn’t open the door. I tried to escape via the small window above the toilet, but it had bars over it. Eventually, I called for help and Judy jiggled the door handle, loosening the lock and giving me my freedom.

We walked around to more of the ramparts and in the moat near the Chateau Comtal. After we wandered around, peeking into shops every so often, we stopped by a restaurant that we had seen before for an early dinner. I had a menu: salad chèvre, cassoulet, and fromage avec miel. After our meal, we wandered out of La Cité and back to our hotel to turn in for the night. The next day, we ride the trains to Amboise in the Loire Valley!

France -- Carcassonne day 1

This morning (19 June 2010) mom, Judy, and I slept in a little and packed to check out of Hotel Campanille ~11:30 am. We took a taxi to Hotel du Pont Vieux and checked in. We got situated in our awesome room (#9 on the 4th floor) – it was up a lot of stairs! The room was great (probably my favorite from our entire trip) – we even had a perfect view of La Cité (the fortified medieval city of Carcassonne)!

We unpacked a little and decided to walk to some nearby markets (it was a Saturday so the town was bustling). We visited a vibrant produce market in the ville base and looked around at all of the beautiful produce, cheese, and sausage stands (with a little sampling along the way). We stayed in this square for a relaxing and tasty lunch at the Salon du Thé overlooking the market square. I had a fancy hot chocolate and a crudité sandwich (tomato, emmental, boiled egg, and lettuce on a crusty baguette) for my lunch.

After lunch, we continued walking to the train station where we bought our next sets of train tickets (for Carcassonne to Amboise and Amboise to Paris). It was a little rainy and cold outside so we walked back to the hotel to re-organize and store our train tickets in a safe place.

Next, we walked up to La Cité. Upon entrance through the drawbridge, we encountered a little Renaissance Faire in full swing – lots of people were dressed up in robes and playing flutes while drinking mead. We wandered through the streets and looked at a couple of shops in La Cité before heading back out to the ville base for dinner.

We walked back to the square where we had lunch earlier that day and had a nice dinner at a nearby café called L’Artichaut. I had roasted camembert on bread with salad and Serrano ham (and Orangina to drink) – it was a good meal. We walked back to the hotel and I wrote some e-mails before hiking back up to the room to get ready for bed. Another day in Carcassonne tomorrow!