Country House, Castles, and Paris!!!!

Ok....so I went to Paris. It was so amazing and I will tell you all about it later. But I need to go in order so I don't forget to mention everything! The kids had a week and a half off of school so Marie-Faustine, Guilhem, and I, along with their grand-parents got to their country house south of Paris. It was beautiful! Everything was very green just like the rest of France. We spent eight days there riding bikes, playing games (Guilhem loved playing chess), mini foot (Foosball), playing outside, taking walks, and speaking lots and lots of French! The grand-parents speak English but they hardly did and so I learned a lot more French! I also brought along a French grammar book and I studied that a lot too. So, I understand more and can speak more too! It's very exciting, but I have a long long ways to go!

There is a castle about a five minute drive from the country house. Yes, a castle. It was pretty small but I was so excited to be able to go inside a castle! I went by myself because everyone else had already been multiple times. I don't know why, but I find castle absolutely amazing! Maybe part of it is because there aren't any castles in America. Also, castles are old! There is so much history behind each castle and I love to learn about them. I will talk a lot about the history of the places I visit here in France because not only do I think it's interesting but I think it's important. So if that bores you then you can just look at the pictures. :)  Anyways, this castle is called Chateau de Sully-sur-Loire. It was built in the late fourteenth century on the banks of the Loire. It's survived some bomb damage from the war in 1940 and 1944. Joan of Arc was imprisoned within the castle but she escaped. Henri IV's minister, Maximilien de Bethune, lived in the castle along with the ducs de Sully. That's about all the history on this castle that I can remember. Enjoy the pictures!

I really wanted to put this on!!

Big fireplace!

I think this is the duc de Sully...

Where they would welcome guests and visitors

The kings bed

The kings room

Another fireplace

The top of the castle. This part is very old.

I really want that clock!

Another fireplace in the dining room

Another fireplace...castles get really cold I guess...

The water surrounding the castle

In the middle of the castle

I think this is where the tomb is...

The park in front of the castle

I was also able to go visit the Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire Abbey. It was absolutely amazing!! This place has a very big history behind it because it was built around 630-650!! Yeah, I know! It's super old! Which I just love! So where to start.... Some monks, in 672, went to Italy and dug up some of the remains of St. Benedict (the Father of Western Monasticism) and brought them back to the Abbey where they are still at today. Because of that, it was a major place for pilgrimages. All around the outside on inside there are a lot of capitals. (Look at the pictures below) They represents different things like the story of the discovery and transport of St. Benedict's relics, biblical scenes, symbolic scenes of temptations and sins, Christ and angles, etc. They are all very interesting! The relics of Saint Benedict were enshrined inside a very large pillar in the crypt. It was kinda creepy down in the crypt but at least I was with other people! This is a unique church because there are monks that live in buildings right next to the church. The few times that I have been to the catholic church there were never any monks, so this time was very different and interesting. I don't think it's very common to have monks, but honestly I'm not sure. Sadly, the battery in my camera died and so I wasn't able to get any pictures. But I found these pictures online.

Capital of Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 

Saint-Benoit-sure-Loire Abbey

Another capital of St. Mark

Getting the bones of St. Benedict 

Inside

The Sanctuary with 4th or 5th century floor

Shrine of St. Benedict

Gothic north portal entry

The Crypt

I was able to go to another castle, but it was much bigger than the Chateau de Sully-sur-Loire. It's called the Chateau de Chambord. When King Francis I was 25 years old in 1519 he initiated the building of the castle with a Renaissance style. The castle was intended to be a hunting lodge because of the perfect land around it for the sport. It's actually the largest enclosed forest park in Europe. It has 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces, and 426 rooms! Francis I reigned for 32 years and he only spent a total of 72 days at the castle and he never saw the castle finished. His son is responsible for finishing the castle and for how it looks today. The first floor was for the living quarters. There was a chapel and it was the biggest room in the castle. When the Comte de Chambord owned the castle he only spent three days in it. What is up with these people building gigantic castles and hardly even using them? "In the centre of the keep is the famous double spiral staircase that links the castles three floors and also supports the lantern surmounted by a fleur-de-lys. The staircase comprises two concentric spiral flights of stairs that wind independently around a hollow central column, so if two people each take one flight they can see each other through the openings in the central column but will never meet!" (Taken from the pamphlet) The staircase was really confusing to me and I still don't really understand how it works. I also was not able to get any pictures due to my dead battery so I took some from online. Enjoy!

                   

Double spiral staircase

And last, but definitely not least, PARIS!! I am so, so, so, so, so, mad at myself. Like I said, my camera died and there was no way to charge it. So...I got no pictures of Paris! Everything I saw and got so excited, and then mad at myself because I didn't have my camera. But I just kept telling myself that I would just have to come back. :) So, I was able to stay with the kids grand-parents who live right by the Arc De Triomphe. The first day I basically explored everything along the Champs Elysees. I went to the Louvre but it was closed because of the holiday so I just wandered around it. I went to the Madeleine and listened a little bit to a free concert that was going on. I went to the Place de la Concorde. Afterwards, the grand-parents drove me around Paris at night to show me everything and then took me out to dinner. They were super super nice and I'm grateful that they gave me the opportunity to stay with them in Paris(and also at their country house) and to show me around. The next day I woke up and went to the Eiffel Tower. Awesome! It's bigger than I imagined it would be. Afterwards I went to the Musee de Orsay which had work from Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Van Gogh Gauguin, Seurat Signac, etc. Very interesting to see these famous works of art in person! Afterwards I ate at a cafe in the park. I definitely felt like I was in Paris. I can't wait to go back and see more! Sorry there are no pictures, but you all know what the Eiffel Tower looks like.