We drove from Langeais to Chenonceau which wasnt that far. It is pleasant driving the short distances and being able to relax a bit. When we got to Chenonceau we werent sure where the carpark was and a poor camper behind us thought we knew so followed us and we both went too far and had to try and turn around. We managed to find the carpark which was full and buzzing especially since it is a public holiday weekend, so we park and make lunch. There are no stopping overnight signs so we need to find the aire which is supposed to be close by. After sussing out the amount of people here we decided it would be better to come in at 9am the next day and beat the majority of the crowds. So we find where the free aire parking is and move the van and have an afternoon of relaxing after a walk around the little village.
It was a lovely clear still evening and i heard these noises which could only have been the burner on a hot air balloon. Next minute there were several balloons rising above the nearby trees. Famous Montgolfier are the company here doing the balloon rides. There were 8 balloons in total doing a trip over the Loire and the nearby castles. Not surprising on such a lovely night. What an amazing view they will have. Another 7 or so campers joined us in the little aire for the night.
We headed into the castle first thing in the morning. This castle is built over a tributary of the Loire river called River Cher and goes from one bank to the other. Quite a stunning looking castle and was lovely inside. We managed to avoid most of the tour groups and general public by starting early but this castle is the busiest of all the castles in the Loire so it is always chocka with people. The gardens werent much after seeing Villandry but they did have large vege gardens which Scot kept saying they wouldnt miss the odd vege from. He also decided that it was ok to open the door of an old Bentley car and sit in it which was situated in the middle of a ‘do not walk on the grass’ area. Self explanatory i thought and i was mortified when he did it, thinking we’d get kicked out next by the security that was all over. This castle like some others had bag searches to get in and you couldnt take any food in with you.
The castle was used as a hospital during the 1st world war housing patients and one of the rooms was converted into an operating theatre. Soldiers could wander around the grounds whilst convalescing there. The owner paid all the expenses for the hospital and its running costs whilst located in his castle. Some of his family also worked there to help out. They had some of the most beautiful horse drawn carriage cars which were restored to mint condition. The castle is owned by the Menier family – famous for their chocolates.
