Return to Nantes and the Loire Valley

October 25

Sam:

This morning we got on a train to Nantes, where my mom used to go to university 21 years ago. We rented a car to drive around the city and see mom’s university and to get to our AirBnB. We took a long time to look around the university, and in the end we think we found it. It was hidden behind all of the other university buildings, and we had to drive around the university to find it. The surprising thing was that the building my mom recognises the most was called Resto U, which she said was horrible and she only ate at twice.

We then drove to our AirBnB in the Loire Valley near a city called Tours, and when we got there we unpacked and got some groceries. Later we chose to make a list of castles we wanted to go to. The castle that had the most votes for going to was a castle called Château d’Ussé, also known as the Sleeping Beauty castle.

October 26

Charlotte:

Today we had a castle day. First we went to Azay-le-Rideau. The castle was very pretty with white walls and a blue roof. It also has a most and we need to cross a bridge to get in.

We went inside and there were many different rooms to see, like bedrooms, dining room, an attic, and even a billiards room. In one of the rooms there were automatic music boxes and a magic mirror.

Outside, there was a big park (not a playground, though) with lots of mushrooms and little waterfalls.

Next, we drove to Château L’Islette, but we couldn’t go in because it was closed. It was beautiful from the outside, though. It was in the country and there were ducks, sheep, and horses. There was also a little house beside it where we thought a caretaker might live.

The château d’Ussé came next. This is where Charles Perrault got the idea to write Sleeping Beauty. It looks like a fairy tale mansion. Sam and I got to do a kids’ game in this castle. There were questions around the castle with multiple choice answers. There were lots of different rooms. Each room had furniture and wax people to show what it was really like living there. In the ballroom, there were wax people dancing, for example.

After the main part of the castle and the dungeon, we went up Sleeping Beauty’s tower. It was so awesome because each room had part of the story in it. There were pages of the book and figures on display.

There more parts of this castle. We went into the stable and carriage house. It was funny because there was a tiny carriage for a dog to deliver milk.

We also went into the chapel, the gardens, and the caves where they kept their wine.

The fourth castle we saw was Château Langeais. It was in the middle of a town. We did not go in this one, but I like it a lot. It had a drawbridge that Dad and I wanted to put up.

Our final castle for the day was Villandry. It was almost closing time. We climbed up on a bench in a park beside it to take pictures. There were a sheep and a horse in a small field beside the parking lot. I played with the horse, and Sam liked the sheep.