Les Chateaux de Loire

Sunday was the day of castles. First we visited Clos Luce, a small castle most known for being the home of Leonardo Da Vinci during his last 3 years. Althought we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the castle, we got to see his bedroom, study, and various models and prints of his inventions. The Da Vinci Gardens were really something though. The winding paths lead from a rose garden, to a small pond, to stables, and included some life size replicas of his inventions, including a water pump, and the 2 strange looking things pictured. 

Next we went to Chenonceau, a castle built over a river. While the castle is on the "smaller side", the grounds are the amazing part. The road up to the castle is surrounded by woods and paths, leading to different farms, caves, mazes, alcoves, etc. And let's not forget the gardens. The castle is flanked on either side by the most amazing and well kept gardens I've ever seen. The castle itself is really only held in the front part, and the part that stretches across the river, which was built years after the original part, is just a long corridor. I'm not really sure what its purpose is, but it looked cool!

We keep seeing these beds everywhere and I am officially obsessed and want one of my own. Unfortunately it looks like you have to be very rich and royalty to own one, so it looks like I'm out of luck. :/

The corridor across the river. Like I said, really cool, but not very useful.

And last but certainly not least is Chambord. What a monster this was!! The day we were there, there was a fair in progress on the grounds. We got to see a dog show, horse jumping, and eat lots of yummy food. And all before we went inside the castle! You can tell from the picture just how huge it is. It has 3 normal stories and then lots of little towers and roof spaces. Each of the 3 main floors has 4 apartments, one in each corner, except one which is the chapel. All of this is centered around the grand staircase in the middle. The staircase is especially unique in that it is a double helix. This means that there are actually 2 staircases wound around one another. You can see each other the whole way up, but if you start from different places at the bottom, your paths won't cross until you reach the top. The roof itself is really neat too. I think every inch of this place is covered in ornate carvings and little details. 

View from the front of the castle.

The roof