LOIRE VALEY -Part 1

This week we are staying in a small village called Gy en Sologne.

The gite is right in the village which is very neat and tidy but without much colour as there is no grassed area or flowers. Athough there are lots of cottages round us it is very quiet.

Of course Tony has made friends with the lady who works in the Boulangerie where he buys his bagette every day!
The gite is very comfortable and well equipped but wait till you see the main bedroom upstairs.

Very lovely and huge.

The area we are staying in is  dotted with small lakes or ponds and little streams link them to eachother so the area is very popular for fishing I am told.

It is also very handy for visiting the chateaux of this area.

So............

On Sunday after an early lunch we visited Chivernay .

 It is beautifully furnished and maintained throughout and one wing is still occupied by the family that owns it.

I really like to hear that as I hate to see these terrific buildings sitting empty.

 Lovely gardens just beginning to bloom.

After that we went on to Blois  where we explored the old part of the town and came upon some fine views of the majestic Loire river.

On Tuesday Chambord was the chateau of choice.

Enormous, imposing, isolated,

surrounded by water, then woods,

topped by lots of decorative chimneys and towers.

You can walk all the way round the huge building along this pretty walkway.

A delightful, decorative spiral staircase with links to Leonardo daVinci to progress from one level to the next
but   empty !
Such a pity to see this vast building without furniture, but it is all long gone.

The vast empty spaces of this chateau were used to store works of art that were hidden from the Germans during WWII.

Not a bad start to the week.
Oh and much warmer - sunny and around 18 degrees.

Cheers.

PS Just edited the name of the last chateau to Chambord. Good thing I reread what I had written this morning !!!