France Day 7 - Train Ride

We drove all the way to Paris after Chambord, with the weather getting rainier, and checked into a hotel near the airport pretty late at night. This morning, we took the hotel shuttle to the airport where we were able to get tickets for the train into Paris after a lot of confusion. The trains aren’t very new, but they are fast and the seats have cushions. At some point in our ride this random lady got on with speakers and a karaoke mic sort of thing and started singing for money.

France Day 7 - City of Love?

We got out of the subway somewhere and had lunch at a McDonald’s that was conveniently close. Just getting out of the subway was a challenge since it took at least 5 minutes to find the sign for the exit we wanted, and then we followed the signs through a labyrinth of underground passages that twisted and turned and went up and down and even platforms of other trains before finally emerging at street level. Maybe I just wasn’t reading it right.

We walked for a long time in search of Tumbleweed Toy Store (google it if you don’t know what it is). On the way, we stopped at a small cathedral for a break, as well as H&M and GAP for me to browse while my dad was taking pictures on the street.

Macaroons and other confectionery!

macaroooooons <3

Froggy-looking car

the Cathedral

Mmm, cake shop

Toy Store

I got two of these [Himitsu Bako]

A store that sells foie gras and cool stuff like that

graffiti on a bridge

After the toy store, we walked down to the river and saw the famous Notre Dame Cathedral. We didn’t go inside, though, since there was a line-up that filled the whole square outside just to get to the entrance. From down below, we saw multitudes of people milling around on the terraces and towers. There were some street performers doing tricks with glass orbs, several of them with the same acts and music but standing in different spots. We even saw one practicing on the subway on our way back at night.

The garden behind
the Cathedral

One of the front doors
of the Cathedral

Stands on the street selling
ancient books

The entrance to the subway looks like the
entrance to a haunted house or scary ride

"Pokemon are everywhere"!!?

We had dinner in the Latin Quarter, where the narrow streets were lined with small restaurants that had people standing at the door trying to entice tourists. We ventured into a small dark restaurant that served various cheese dishes including fondue. I tried something cool called raclette, in which cheese is melted and then poured onto various cold meats and small potatoes.

After dinner we got back on the subway and went to see the Eiffel Tower because, after all, you can’t come to Paris and not see that. It was already dark by then, and we followed the tourists and the lights of the tower to its base. A lot of people who looked like they might be immigrants of African ethnicity were hawking little Eiffel tower souvenirs on little blankets laid out with trinkets, or walking around shaking large bunches of metal Towers. The Tower itself was lit up in an orange-yellow outline, and we walked under it to the other side where we could take pictures from further away. We were there just in time, since the lady at the toy store had told us that at 8, 9, and 10pm on the hour, the tower has a special light display for a few minutes. It was just white lights flashing that made it look like it was sparkling, like something out of a manga, but that’s alright it was slightly exciting.

As we were leaving, we saw a police cruiser pulling in near the base of the tower, and then some unknown signal must have gone out because all the hawkers were suddenly packing up and running away at full speed, hollering for each other to go faster and catcalling in the darkness. That might have been slightly more exciting.

France Day 6 - Double Staircase!

In the morning we packed up and left Tours to see the castle at Blois. Not going to lie, it was rather lame. Highlights: this one was built in sections too, and there are four distinct architectural styles present. Also there were some crazy gargoyles that they salvaged from the original building before they restored it, now on display with a bunch of other worn-away stuff in what used to be the castle kitchens. 

Panoramic view of the town from
the terraces

Small chapel in the courtyard

In the afternoon we reached Chambord, having driven there after Blois while eating more sandwiches in the car. Chambord was my favourite castle overall, since it’s considerably larger than the others and had more interesting stuff inside. In the very middle of the castle there’s a huge double staircase winding all the way up to the rooftop terraces. The staircase was possibly inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s designs and very innovative for the time. It’s made so that if two people went up the separate staircases they could see each other across the central column but never meet. So it is like this. According to the internet, it’s supposed to be so that the king and his servants wouldn’t have to use the same staircase.

Up on the terraces, you could look down on the vast expanse of the castle grounds where noblemen used to hunt wild boars. There was also a chapel of some sort, and the spires rose high up into the cloudy sky.

Pretty tree on the grounds

Witty postcard at a souvenir shop

France Day 5 - The Ladies' Castle

Poser ;)

We left Tours in the morning to drive to our first castle, Chenonceau (not to be confused with the nearby town of Chenonceaux). It’s known as the Ladies’ castle since it was the residence of several ladies/queens who decorated various parts of the castle to their tastes during their time there. It was very windy and damp outside so it was pretty cold out while we waited for my dad to take pictures. We went inside to walk through the different rooms in the castle, and had to fight our way through large groups of students and other tours.

THE BUTCHERY (kitchen)

Oh, Daddy..

In the middle of the castle's
hedge maze

We had looked at pictures of the castles online while planning our trip, and we’d expected the castles to be much bigger than they actually are in real life. I found that they are nowhere as impressive and grand as the ones in Austria or Russia, but very quaint and pretty in their own way.

France Day 5 - Amboise

The second castle we visited was the castle at Amboise, belonging to several kings of France. This one was built on a hill behind high walls. There was a big open terrace all around the castle itself, with lawns and gardens as well as a chapel where Leonardo da Vinci’s remains lay. There was also this interesting tree outside the chapel.

Part of the decorative theme gardens

 We went inside for a quick look, and realized this castle’s probably even smaller than Chenonceau. The interesting feature about this one is that it has two wings that were built at different times and are decorated differently. One is Gothic according to earlier French tradition, and the other is in the Italian-influenced Renaissance style. Inside, the only very interesting thing for me was the hall where court events were held, with a massive fireplace at the end that was very warm. The rest were empty guards’ rooms with the wind blowing straight through or small bedrooms that don’t look much different from those in any other castle.

Mmmm, warm.

Yoda??

Top of a tower

I suppose if I were more interested or educated in European history I would find it much more exciting to that so and so lived in such and such a room. For me right now, it’s more or less the same everywhere. The interior of the castles blur together in my mind and I end up just barely being able to differentiate my memories of the exteriors.