Kelly à Paris!: Val du Loire

Âllo tout le monde!

So after a couple of days filled with how-to’s and how-not-to’s, we were treated to a field trip to the Loire Valley (Loire du Val) for the overnight portion of orientation week.

After a four-hour bus ride accompanied with our bus driver’s unusual preference of the Rolling Stones at full volume, we arrived in the beautiful (yet rainy) Loire Valley. According to the brochure I kept from the field trip, the Loire Valley is home to more than 50 chateaux that once housed the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci and Francois Premier. During our two-day visit to Loire Valley, we visited Chateau Chenonceau, Chateau Villandry, Chateau Clos-Lucé and Chateau Amboise.

Although January in France can be a little cold and dreary, the chateaus were absolutely breathtaking. The wine tastings at Villandry led by the charming proprieter, Hubert (Oooo-Behr), definitely helped ward off some of the chill as well.

After some bubbly and goat cheese (chèvre), it was time for dinner. I was a little apprehensive to try the meat on my salad as earlier that day I had unknowingly eaten rabbit. The meat on the salad resembled pork so I was very confident in my belief that I was eating pork. Turns out—I was fooled again. Gizzards, I ate a whole lump of gizzards. So now after those two experiences, I am much happier eating whatever is on my plate with blissful ignorance.

The next day we visited the final resting place of Leonardo Da Vinci at Chateau Clos Lucé. Replicas of Da Vinci’s paintings and inventions were studded throughout the Chateau. All of the beds featured in the chateau were extremely small and it looked like there was no possible way that the 6’2’ Da Vinci was ever comfortable sleeping in his final years. According to our guide, people slept sitting up because they felt that lying down on one’s back was a bad omen as it resembled lying down in a grave. Who woulda thunk?

After a lunch of pork fat and deer, a true French dish we were told, we were headed to Amboise, which was the largest and most celebrated Chateau in the valley.

The Loire Valley was a great cultural experience, but I would recommend it during warmer months in order to see the gardens in full bloom!

A demain!