We have our own chalet!

This morning we visited the smaller and more beautifully and historically decorated chalet of Chenanceau. It was built in about the same time as Chambord but is called the ladies chalet because the wives of the kings who built it heavily influenced the decor. The chateau also contains a small farm which grows all the flowers, which are arranged on site and which decorate every room. It's built directly over the Cher River, with a double decker bridge portion at the rear of the chalet, linking the two sides of the river and resembling the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. Perhaps this is because one of the women who lived here the longest was Marie de Medici, married at age 14 to King Henry II of France.

After we left Chenanceau we stopped for lunch at the charming town of Amboise, which, of course, also has a chalet. We were tiring of chalets so just had lunch and hung out for awhile.  amboise is famous for being the town where daVinci lived at the end of his life and until his death.

The best part of the day was when we pulled up to our hotel for the night. We are staying in a chateau of our own! It is owned by an actual prince, who rents out rooms to help pay chateau upkeep. the name of the chateau is Chateau de la Bourdaisiere. First photo is the stables, which are converted to guest rooms, and second view is the chateau, where our room is. 

We are on the top floor, in a suite with two bedrooms and two baths. One toilet is very strange. you must climb three stairs to get to it and it's in a little niche built into the floor, with a tiny, uncurtained  window behind it. Fortunately the chateau is surrounded by woodland so there is a sense of some decorum. 

Before dinner we had a wine tasting at a small local one-family winery. The vintner, Jean-Christoph Dardeau, is a 15th generation winemaker and sells only to people who come to his winery. He does all the work himself and showed us through the entire process of making wine. We tasted his red, his white and his sparkling rose and white. Here are photos of the winery. 

Last, we returned to the chateau, where we dined on sorrel soup, chicken in a grainy mustard sauce with a potato gratin, and chocolate cake for dessert. Yummy! And our grandchildren agreed.