The Loire Valley is home to some of the best wineries in the world. The weather makes the perfect conditions for wine-making. On top of that, there are some beautiful historic castles dotting equally antiquated cities and countrysides. What we liked best is that the solitude of the region has allowed the entire area to remain essentially unchanged. Sure there are highways and cars streaming through the area. But, one visit to those petite villes or a beautiful chateau, and it’s easy to see that the Loire Valley is perfectly preserved.
Our first stop in Loire Valley was Chateau de Chaumont-sur-Loire. The chateau has a somewhat tumultuous history of being destroyed, then rebuilt, then sold before becoming open to the public. It’s also home to extremely tall sunflowers.
Chateau de Chaumont – sur – Loire
On day 2, we went to Château de Chenonceau, a beautiful chateau situated over the Cher River. In the day time, the river reveals an awesome reflection of the chateau. It also has a beautiful garden.
Chateau de Chenonceau
The beautiful trees at Chateau de Chenonceau
This is part of a maze garden outside of Chateau de Chenonceau
These trees are hundreds and hundreds of years old; Chateau de Chenonceau
Chateau Chambord is an amazing replica of actual castles in the 16th century. The architecture is ornate and exquisite both inside and out. The roof of the chateau is something right out of a fairy tale.
Chateau Chambord
The cities dotting the Loire Valley are gorgeous and they are very historical. Blois is one of those cities and very reminiscent of French Renaissance.
The bridges of Blois
On day 3, we visited Chateau de Villandry. The chateau has the most amazing garden out of all the chateaus we visited. From atop, the garden gives a feint resemblance to the most despised character of Alice in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts.
Chateau de Villandry
Chateau de Villandry is beautiful.
The Queen of Hearts Garden in the Chateau de Villandry
The sun rising over the castle.
Grapes in the Chateau de Villandry
Chateau de Usse is believed to be the inspiration for the castle in Sleeping Beauty. We’d kindly like to beg to differ.
Chateau de Usse. Sleeping Beauty? Hmmm….
The last chateau we visited was Chateau de Langeais. The garden is much tinier than those we visited previously. It does, however, have an tree house.
Pink door of Chateau de Langeais
Chateau de Langeais
There are many beautiful chateaux in the Loire Valley. We spent three days there and in those three days, we visited quite a few chateaux. Visiting the inside of each chateau was basically the same. The same gold-decorated, velvet-draped decorations were very prominent for just about every chateau with differences lying in the history of the chateau (each chateau tells a story!). However, the gardens and architecture were amazing.
Do you think Chateau de Usse is the muse for Sleeping Beauty? Let us know what you think!
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