Castles in the Loire

Next stop - the Loire, which is filled with lovely castles. A few yards from our hotel was the castle of Chenanceau. Although impossible to figure out how they knew how to do it in "the olden days", the castle is built in and over a river. Francis I built it for his mistress. Upon his death, his wife promptly threw her out and moved in herself. The tapestries on the wall and the drawings around the bed both served the same useful purpose: warmth.

It's October but the gardens still displayed lots of color.

We also visited a more medieval castle which left several sections of wall and roof "unfinished" after restoration so visitors could understand the construction methods. This led the guide brochure to comment that toilets "have not changed much over the centuries"!