Ingrid and Malcolm's Life in Luxembourg: The Loire Valley

We headed to the Loire Valley for Château overload. We stayed overnight to be first through the gates at one of the largest tourist Châteaus and it was definitely worth it. The first one we saw and visited was Château de Chenonceau which was built over the River Cher and had very impressive gardens as well as the buildings themselves. As we were first we raced inside and went to the upper levels so that we could see these exquisite rooms empty. It was well worth it as most people followed the guided route (which we went back and did after) so we were left alone to see were Catherine de' Medici, Madame Dupin and others had lived.

After this we drove to the medieval town of Loches where we had lunch in the park looking towards the château and walked around the town.

Then off to visit the next place, Château d'Azay-le-Rideau. Thankfully with daylight saving we could drive for a while longer passing many beautiful châteaus until we got to Saumur with its own fairytale château.

The next morning we decided to stay off the main roads and visit a Château with a difference. Château de Breze has a subterranean fort and caves and tunnels with an extremely deep moat around it. There are still people living in part of the château and it still has a vineyard and winery with the wine being stored in the caves and tunnels built underground. Walking around the buildings and gardens it felt like the people who owned it needed more cash and just decided to open a few rooms as it felt more recently used than other châteaus we had visited.