Un autre jour, un autre chateau! (Another day, another castle!)

After Amboise, we continued to follow the Loire to Chateau Chenonceau. The Loire valley is not a deep one with mountains on either side, but a wide valley with gentle slopes and rises. Many of the chateaux and their surrounding grounds are hidden by forests of Sycamore and Oak trees. I love travelling up the shady avenues that lead to the beauty beyond.

 Chenonceau has beautiful, carefully planned gardens that are just glorious in the summer sunshine. The castle itself was true to the style of the time and the region, with white block walls, round towers  and dark grey roof tiles.

What makes Chenonceau stand out from the other castles however, is that it is built over the river and visitors can take boats under the arches. The halls and rooms of the castle are positioned over water and the views of the river and gardens are spectacular.

Chenonceau also has the largest collection of original tapestries that I had seen from the few castles that we visited. We were not allowed to take flash photographs of the tapestries, in order to protect them. During the summer, a floral festival has been in full swing. I dont know what these purple flowers are but they are definitely worthy of a photo.

I do recognise the snapdragons, but Ive never seen them so beautifully presented.

After leaving the castle, we headed to Arles, to see why Van Gogh might have gone there. It didnt take long to find at least one of the reasons. Ah sunflowers! The French call them tourne sol, which means 'turn to the sun.' There were many, many fields just like this one and they take your breath away every time.