Upon landing in London, our next leg of the day was to get to Paris from via connecting plane, so we would be able to pickup the rental car by 4pm. The flight was on time, however the girl who was scanning bags at security was taking her time. We would have missed the flight if it was not for me getting upset at her manager to expedite our bag to make it to the gate. We barely made it within 5 minutes of the gates closing! Finally we were off to Paris. We fortunately landed promptly and went straight to SIXT rental car agency, and started our trip around France. We headed out in our little I10 by Hyundai, and left Paris heading south west.
It was so exciting to get on the road, and start this trip! Having literally been in Tampa 15 hours before that, it was surreal to be on the other side of the globe for the next 3 months. Our goal for the day was to see the Chateau de Chambord, and make it to the town of Blois, France. Upon leaving, traffic was heavy, yet we were able to find backroads by design, by using Google Maps to avoid Tolls.
PROTIP: France has tolled interstate highways. This is done by receiving a ticket upon entering the road, and returning it when you exit, and then you are required to pay to exit. Google Maps has a feature to click the ‘avoid toll’ option. This allows the driver to drive without worrying about paying for tolls in foreign countries, but also to avoid high penalties on rental cars for no knowing about upcoming tolls. It’s best to avoid them in general, and had we not used it, it would have cost us about $200 in highway fees.
PROTIP: When coming to Europe, bring a credit card that is for travel, but also request a pin # for this. Reason being, there are often times transactions ask for your pin number in order to finalize a transaction. This is especially true of train stations in Southern Europe, such as Italy. We came into this problem, and issue at Mcdonalds during this day.
The chateau was first on the list, but we decided we needed a quick lunch at Mcdonalds. We had lunch and decided to get a box of 12 Large bottles of water for only 2EU! I knew this would be helpful as we were driving around the country. From here we headed immediately to the visitor center of the Chateau in the Loire Valley. This is a very beautiful drive to the West side valley of Paris. Rolling hills and farmland abound with small charming towns expected at almost every turn.
This was an absolutely breathtaking drive to start the trip on, and we were able to make it through the gates of the Chateau within 10 minutes of them closing….perfect timing! The cost to visit this Chateau is 13EU Per Person, but we knew this going into it, and were ready to give them our money.
Upon arriving, the Chateau has an intimidating look. The shear size of it should render it a kings palace, but it was once owned by wealthy citizens. This is now one of the valleys premier attractions, and I discovered it as a destination to visit on a showcase video at Disney Worlds Epcot France Pavillion!
The Chateau itself is laid out in a four tower cornered building, with an enormous marble staircase in the middle which would make any king jealous to have. The entire building is white marble, but has intricate gothic designs on the towers. This provides the unique exterior look, which can be seen for miles. The outside area, has gardens, horse stables, servants quarters, hunting grounds, and even a church. This would be as close to the Palace of Versailles a citizen could possibly ever obtain.
The chateau itself is one of the finest architectural structures of medieval France, and is almost 500 years old. Many kings, and dukes of France have lived and visited there, and we were able to tour the full building along with the gardens. If it wasn’t for the lack of sunlight and our need to go check in at our hotel, we could have spent another half day touring the onsite church and horse stables they had for people to see. We entered the building through the front and toured every room as we passed. Each area was filled with new art from this generation, since there was no one living here, they had turned a majority of the building into a cultural exhibit. This was enjoyable, but I would say out of place, as the majority of artwork was modern, within the confines of a medieval palace. Nonetheless, I was focusing on the structure of the building, from it spiral Staircase to its eleven turrets on its roof. Upon reaching the roof we actually were able to overlook the gardens, and courtyard outside, which in their own right were spectacular! I would have to say they reminded me of Versailles, just not as large.
The outside tour we did was short, but with that in mind we could enjoy the gardens, and get a beautiful face view of the chateau. This was a great way to end the tour, since the chapel was not accessible to visitors at this time. When we finished up our tour, we headed to the hotel. The hotel we stayed at was called First Inn Blois, and this was our first experience at a microhotel, of which Europe was famous for.
PROTIP: I would recommend bringing a shammy when backpacking, as some of the old towels they give you cost quite a bit (5 Euro each time) when you shower at these small hotels and hostels.
PROTIP: I found out through our trip to purchase hotels with free parking was a smart idea with our rental car. Though I assume it is free most of the time, in downtown areas, it can get expensive and complicated to find good parking if you are on a budget.
We barely had enough room for us to fit, but we made it work in this room for us. After checking in and seeing the room we walked the town of Blois while the sun was up. This was after having dinner at La Boucherie, which is actually a local chain of chophouses in France, and located within walking distance of the city. Our exploration of the town led us to various building and churches. Le Mans Cathedral, The Abbey St Louis Cathedral, La Trinte Church, and a staircase covered in a swirl of Black and White Paint. These were unexpected and made for a great evening stroll around this small valley city.
The town of Blois was such a pleasant surprise and we ended up enjoying a few drinks at a local bar and watching sunset from the bridge. The bar had my favorite beer (Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc) and we played a few rounds of darts with Mom and Ashley. This was such a great end to the day as we finally had the time and luxury to relax while we prepped for the next morning to explore France. It was truly a wonderful day.
HOTEL: First Inn, Blois ($53.28)
EXPENSES-
10.45 Coffee airport paris
2.20 coffee
16.60 Mcdonalds
1.90 water
43.52 Gas
39 Chateau Loire
6 Chambord parking
1.98 room tax
26.69 Dinner
10 drinks
Total- 158.04 /3 people
+prepaid room $53.28 USD