Anyways, this past Wednesday after class we had an excursion to both Château Azay-le-Rideau and Villandry. The first we saw, Azay, was very beautiful because of the water around it; it made for a lot of good photo ops. The inside was similar to the first Château, but I still love getting to talk through every room, imagining what the lives of the people who used to live there were like. I like to think that I'm standing exactly where a princess once stood, or something like that. It makes the tours a lot more interesting, even though it makes my attention waver a bit when our "tour guide" (one of our French professors here) is telling us in French about the history. I don't know why, but I've always had a "thing" for castles and a "thing" for any kind of Renaissance history, I just find it so interesting. So, here you are:
Afterwards, we hopped back on the bus, and not too far away was Château Villandry and their infamous gardens. This was by far my favorite thing we have done on the trip, and the most beautiful place I have ever been. The château itself was beautiful on the outside, but my favorite thing about it was that the inside was a lot different than the others. For one thing, I broke free from the group with a friend and we explored the castle on our own, which was a magnificent idea. It turned out that there were a lot more rooms to see and most didn't have little barrier ropes dividing you from anything. Every room was totally furnished, but the neat part was that it was done so in the 1800's style, when the last people lived there, so it differed from the other castles in that way as well. It felt like you were actually walking through someone's house who was currently living in it. Every room was so detailed, and from all of the windows on one side you could look out over the gardens, which was incredible.
Château
Closer, in courtyard-like area
An example of one of the rooms
And then, the gardens. The words beautiful, breath-taking, incredible, amazing...don't do anything at all to describe the gardens. They're words you can use to describe anything, and it's frustrating that no matter what I say to describe them, I won't be able to fully, and won't get close to doing justice. The incredible part about it, on top of all the beauty, was the feeling you got walking through them; whether it was through the actual flowers, the trees, the pond with all the open space...you just felt wonderful. Like you could spend a whole day just being there, being happy. Not even doing anything at all. Just looking, smelling, thinking, feeling. Even the pictures I'll show don't even do it justice, but you'll get a much better idea this way:
Before the trip is over, I'd like to go back and just spend the whole day there. Maybe rent a bike or something, it's not that far.
Friday we had a little tour of a Boulangerie, which is basically just a French bakery. We were told how it's made, what's in it. We were shown the very old oven and then got to have a very delicious breakfast of croissants, 2 other kinds of bread, with jelly and butter, and hot cocoa or coffee.
Old French oven
Having breakfast at the bakery
Just part of the bakery
Afterwards, it was a very lazy day. My friend Marie and I went and bought some knitting supplies, and she taught me how to knit, which I ended up loving and which we ended up doing for a few hours on some couches at the Institute, all the while just talking and watching whatever was on the TV in French. It was very relaxing, since I had been having a bit of a rough time the past few days of being a little up and down. I won't get into it now, since I feel fine, but I had simply been overwhelmed with being either incredibly busy and happy, or all of a sudden having so much free time that all I could do was think. And mostly about people I missed and how hard it is to be alone sometimes. But hey, pictures!
My first stitches
Candid of Marie and I
And then that night, a little group of us went to an outdoor café right next to the Loire. Live music, lights strung in the trees, the Loire lit up too, great company...it couldn't get much better.
And now it's time to plan my 10 day break, Evan and I are backpackin' around southern France! I'm so excited!
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