France 2013 - Castles!

A trip to France wouldn't be complete without visiting castles, right? :)  We were lucky enough to go visit 3 castles.  Well, really 2 and a half.  The first one we went to was Chateau de Chaumont. It was founded in the 10th century and it amazes me that this was built before cranes and machines existed.  We went during their annual Garden Festival where 30 themed gardens are created by various artists, architects and designers from around the world. It was amazing.

Here are some pictures of the gardens.

 

We decided to take some family pics in one of the gardens.  They turned out pretty good!

 

"Mommy! Take a picture of me in front of the castle so I can show my friends!"

 Then we were off to visit the actual castle. Too bad the princess was on "vacation."

These stairs are killing me!

 

 The carriage house and stables...

 Our drive back...Francis thought we were going to get run off the road a few times.

 The second castle we visited was Chenonceau.  I LOVE this castle.  Francis and I visited it when we were in France last and it is still as beautiful as we remembered it.  This one was used to house the king's queens and mistresses.

 The maze!

These kids sure do act like royalty sometimes  :)

 The kid's playground...

 We headed back towards Paris the last day and were hoping to visit Versailles but it turns out that it is closed on Mondays - such a bummer.  But the gardens were open and it turns out that you can take a little train to the bottom.  The kids loved it and it turned out to be a perfect end to our vacation.  We found the best restaurant in front of the canals overlooking the huge gardens!

Outside of Versailles. We were peaking in the windows like creepers.

Yay!  We're on a train!

 

Such a ham!

At the front gates - no way in unfortunately.

Overall, we had a great trip!  Although I wish we could have stayed for another week to explore more and to get the kids immersed in more french. Vacations always go by so fast!