The main thing to come to Loire Valley Chambord castle for is the amazing architecture. A fantastic jumble of towers, stairs, bells, carved windows, twisted railings make it look like a cake that came out from under the hands of a pastry chef with a particularly sophisticated imagination. Chateaubriand saw in him a woman with flowing hair. Victor Hugo wrote about the castle: “All sorts of magic, poetry, even madness are represented in the admirably bizarrerie of that palace of fairies and knights.”
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Loire valley Chenonceau castle
Wealthy and powerful nobles of the 15-16th centuries, deciding to get a permanent residence in the Loire Valley, obviously found a special charm in the fact that their castle was surrounded by water.
The swift waters of Cher, flowing around the arches of the covered bridge attached to the Chenonceau Castle (Château de Chenonceau), make it perhaps the most graceful of the Loire valley castles.
Pink granite coast (Cote de granit rose)
The pink granite coast got its name because the coast and islands are made of pink granite of various shades, from very light, almost gray, to dark, almost brown.
The entire coastline is practically one continuous developed resort. There is where to walk, there are beautiful beaches and there is something to see.
Brittany Crozon Peninsula, Locronan
The Crozon peninsula (Presqu’ile Crozon) was unexpectedly too large and expectedly beautiful. It is better to come here for two or three days and stay in Camaret or Morgat.
Brittany. 5. Finistere. Brest and Thegonnec
We continue to travel around Brittany. We move to the Finistere department. The most interesting tourist destination here is the Crozon Peninsula and Locronan. But let’s start with Brest and parish close.
Brittany. Paimpol. Côte de Goelo
The last day in Brittany was disgusting. The weather didn’t just turn bad. Cold, if not frosty, june morning began with thick fog combined with light rain. But sitting in the same bottle, that is, in the house, with a little genie was not possible. So we set off towards Paimpol and the island of Brehat in the hope that the weather will improve.
On the way, we stopped at Pontrieux and the Roche-Jagu castle. This part of Brittany left the impression of being wild and more authentic than the nearby resorts of the Pink Granite Coast. Although, perhaps, the weather is to blame for this.
In this post all interesting, what you can visit around Paimpol.
Attractions of Tours city
If you are traveling through the Loire Valley by public transport, the Tours city will be the best choice for accommodation. It is a very pretty city in itself. There are enough hotels in it. Tours is also located in the very center of a large group of castles – getting to any of them will not be difficult:
- upstream of the Loire – castles Chambord, Blois, Chaumont, Cheverny, Ambois;
- downstream – Langeais, d’Usse, Saumur, Angais, Brissac, Montsoreau, Fontevraud;
- on the river Cher, also passing through Tours, – Chenonceau, Loches, Villandry и Azay-le-Rideau;
- on the river Indres – Chinon
They are not all that far from the Tours and from each other. But combining several places in one day is not so easy if you are without a car, due to the unconvenient transport system in the region.
Brittany. 2. Dinan, Cote d’Armor
This post is about Dinan sights and a little bit about Cote d’Armor. Dinan is really worth seeing: old houses, flowers, a scenic descent to the lower town, no crowds of tourists… Many details just ask for the camera.
Brittany. 1. Ille et Villaine. Saint Malo
Brittany (Bretagne) on the maps seemed somehow quite easily “explorable”, especially since the first time we decided to take a car, remembering from previous trips that traveling in France without a car creates some, in some places significant, problems. In reality, the region turned out to be huge and interesting. However, the vast distances make it impossible to explore Brittany in any detail in a week.
You have to choose what is characteristic of Brittany and drive a lot, or explore one small piece, hoping to see other parts next time.
Mont Saint Michel Abbey
According to legend, the St. Archangel Michael appeared to bishop Ober in a dream and ordered to build a church here. And that was done: in the 8th century a chapel appeared on the rock. However, the Archangel Michael is unlikely to have anything to do with the transformation of the chapel into a fortress, which we see today. The place was strategically and economically profitable, and the abbots were smart enough to use it. But the main merit, of course, belongs to those architects from the 11-16 centuries who managed to unit the man-made and nature so poetically.
Writers and not only they admired Mont-Saint-Michel, called it the eighth wonder of the world. At number one, it entered the UNESCO list.
