When planning this trip I wanted us to stay somewhere a bit special for our last few days, over Neil’s birthday and our 42nd wedding anniversary. Our flight home was booked from Paris so a stay in a chateau in the Loire Valley (only a couple of hours drive from Paris) fitted the bill perfectly.
We woke fairly early so we could have our breakfast and be ready to check in for our 9am flight to Paris . After the usual rigmarole of bag drop and security (aside – why is every airport different with their security procedures, some consistency would be nice! ) we had to wait quite a while before we knew what gate we were going to. We weren’t alone, every single flight on the board showed a gate pending sign, with the actual gate only being displayed about 30 minutes before departure. It must have been a bit hectic for people who then had to hoof it to the distant gates, supposedly 20 minutes walk away. Finally we saw we needed to get to gate 15. The flight back to Paris was very quick, I had a good view of the coastline as we crossed over the channel.
back at the now familiar Charles de Gaulle airport we went to collect our third and last car of the trip, a Mazda 2 hybrid, and set off for the Loire valley. The traffic around Paris is pretty horrendous, lots of congestion , but we finally arrived at the Chateaudes Arpentis a little after 3 pm. I was so pleased that the chateau turned out to fit my highest expectations. It is beautiful! They have about 15 rooms within the main building but I’d selected a love,y bug new room, located in a pretty stone building on the edge of the terrace. It had the advantage of all mod cons, including a kitchenette and meant we could sit on our little terrace and look up to the chateau.
We were free to use their lounge , but had our own very comfortable one , so we just took a look at it. Inside the chateau was also a wine cellar and tunnel that led out to the swimming pool. Breakfast is served in a dining room and on the terrace on nice mornings.
The history of the place was interesting, it had been built by French nobility in the 16th Century. King Louis13th and Catherine de Medici had stayed here. Previous owners , like most French nobles, loved to hunt and some of the hallways were chock full of the largest collection and variety of stuffed animals I’d ever seen!
This afternoon and evening we just wanted to relax and enjoy our lovely location. At the nearby shops we bought food for a picnic dinner of fresh baguette, cheese and terrine and salad and some French bubbly that we weren’t familiar with. A lovely finish to the day. Tomorrow is Neil’s birthday and we’re going to visit two Chateaux, he can be king for a day!