Tuesday and Wednesday

It looks like I uploaded the photos in the wrong order, and they aren't letting me rearrange...so I'll be going in reverse order.

We drove up today from the Dordogne area to the Loire valley area. I had originally wanted to try and hit something like 4 different chateau. I wisely chopped the list to 1--and that was pushing it. The one that made the cut was a really big one that didn't charge for kids under 18 (of which we have 5, including our niece), and was close to our final destination.

The kids do well in the car overall, but it was a 4 1/2 hour drive and by the time we got to Chambord, Chloe and Andrew's interest level in large houses that didn't have any toys in them was less than zero. At least Andrew can be perked up once there are huge staircases to climb and rooms to explore. Huge staircases just make Chloe whine more about not wanting to walk. Mason, Katie and Megan are always happy to explore big houses, so at least we're over 50%.

After we finished at the chateau, we went to Beaugancy. It's a small town on the Loire river where we are staying in a 13th century abbey. It is the one and only night we're staying in a something other than a campground or our Switzerland house--so I was very choosy. And I chose well. It oozes history and charm with stone floors, beamed ceilings, and huge windows that overlook the river.

Our timing was a little off in that we arrived with starving children (and adults) at a time when no one else in the city has any interest in eating or making food. It was 4:30, and we were too late for lunch by two hours, and too early for dinner by two hours. We did two laps around the charming little town, and had some great eclairs--but had no luck with actual food. We just saw people walking home carrying baguettes. So we went back to the car, turned on the GPS, and ended up being lured back to a McDonalds. The idea of fast, relatively cheap food that we knew our kids would eat was too overpowering.

Everyone was happy, with the exception of Mason, who was angry that Megan had gotten a Sprite when I had told him that "everyone" was getting water or juice. He wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the meal or get out of the car when we got back to the hotel. Aahhh...doesn't traveling just bring out the best in all of us?

The bonus was that the happy meal toy was a Zooble, something that Chloe has missed since leaving our house. Now she has three of them (from her meal as well as Katie's and Andrew's), and might complain less about not having any toys. Ryan said she was using his fingers this morning as toys, making them talk to each other. Pretty desperate.

Of course, Ryan and I took advantage of the whole situation and got food for the kids, and then left them in the hotel with our niece while we went out for our own dinner. That was not McDonalds. We're not really sure exactly what it was, since we couldn't read the menu, but the restaurant owner did his best to translate. I was a little disappointed when I realized a few minutes before I got my food that I hadn't actually ordered scallops (I like seafood when I go out to eat), but instead was getting scalloped veal. So close, but so far away.

Above is Mason giving Andrew a piggyback ride through Beaugancy during our search for food. It followed a nice lecture we gave the kids about how they were being selfish and only thinking of themselves (see the photo below of Ryan giving "feedback" to the kids after they fought continually during a board game in the hotel lounge area).

These are the super quaint doors that lead into the two-story rooms we stayed in. They used to be where the monks slept.

The Grand Hotel de l'Abby in Beaugency. Our rooms are on the second floor.

Chateau de Chambord

Before we left the Dordogne, Mason and Katie had to say goodbye to their friends from England that they made. We have their address, so we'll drop them a postcard along the way. And Mason and Katie will never hear the word "biscuit" without thinking of their friends.

On Tuesday, I let Andrew and Chloe have the day off, and I took the two older kids and Megan to a cave called Font de Gaume. You get to go into a cave where there are 15,000 year old paintings of bison and reindeer. It was really cool. And I was incredibly grateful to not have the younger kids with me since you couldn't even touch the sides of the cave. I don't think I would have made it 10 feet in before they would have kicked me out.

They only let 200 people through a day, and most of those are sold ahead of time. People like me that don't plan ahead have to stand outside for the 30 tickets they sell at 9:00 every morning. They said to get there early, so I arrived at 8:40 and was one of only 3 people. But by 8:50, the line had begun to grow. The pleasant couple from Wisconsin that were ahead of me had been there since 7:30 that morning--glad I wasn't THAT eager.

We couldn't take photos inside of the cave, but here we are at the entrance.

Tomorrow we're off to Versailles and a half day in Paris. Ryan is going to stay in the gardens with the two younger kids while the rest of us go in the palace. I gave Andrew a piggy-back ride to the chateau today, and told him it was his reward for putting up with a long car ride and then having to go into a boring house. Ryan's comment was, "Then do I get a piggy-back ride too?" Hence, they will be enjoying the fresh air tomorrow, sans any boring buildings.