Counting down to capital S-summer
I can't decide if I'm a city or country girl.
I've lived in both, in France and abroad. I love being in a city and having everything I could possibly want on my doorstep but I also enjoy the quiet and tranquility of the countryside very much. I'm super eager to go back to my flat in the city every night after work but I also like to go to one of my friend's house where you don't hear cars all the time, you can see stars at night and you can have a barbecue in the garden.
When I was young (I'm talking before 12) and living in the city, my friends or siblings and I would ride our bikes in the neighbourhood, go to the mall, to each other's houses for an hour or two.
Whereas when we left for the coutryside, we would cycle from one village to the other, we would play hide and seek in the cornfields, go to friends' houses for sleepovers as we weren't close enough to only go for the afternoon. I remember impromptu picnics in places we had only just discovered, fishing afternoons, going hunting with my stepdad (as my little brother was only 4 at the time and came along, we would stay way behind).
The countryside is a lot more carefree. My mum would never worry, like she did in the city, that we wouldn't be home on time for dinner or bedtime.
I think I can actually decide ..
If I'm going on and on about this specific topic, it's because my weekend has been a combination of the two.
First, I went to visit Chambord Castle.
Chambord castle, in and out. >>> You can click on the pictures to see them fully.
I live in the Loire Valley where you can find some of the most beautiful, amazing castles in France. The region is known for its castles, actually, such as Chenonceau, Amboise, Loches, Cheverny and of course Chambord which might be the most impressive of them all.
Apart from Loches' castle, I've never visited any of the dozens of other castles. Which is a shame. So now, I'm trying to be a good Tourangelle (name of female residents of my region).
What triggered my visit, though, was her post on her blog about it. Marie-Eve Vallières was a Montréal expat in France and visited the region. I loved her article about Chambord and decided that I had to go too.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous and visiting the castle was a dream. In the above pictures you can see Chambord castle from its famous outside (there's work going on there), the über-famous double staircase that never crosses from around it and the middle of it - the light-well -, a monk, a note on the wall about Napoléon that dates back to 1810, ceilings filled with the F and salamender linked to François Ier and deers - deers everywhere as Chambord was a hunting rendez-vous not to be missed.
I've had a great morning visiting the castle. The place is as beautiful as I had imagined it, only a 50-min car ride from home, not really crowded in the morning, full of possible side activities. Worth noting for other fellow travellers: it's free for any under-25 European citizen!
We ended the visit with a picnic in the park of the castle. Baguette, cheese and wine étaient au rendez-vous*! (*were part of it)
It helped fortified my love for my jolie campagne*. (*beautiful countryside)
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To top off the day in just the most perfect way, was this :
After visiting Chambord and going for a drink to cool-off after such a long and hot day at a guinguette (it has become assimilated to old people going to guinguettes to dance and meet people, now it's taken over by youth), we ended the day at a friend's house for a barbecue. The evening was just as beautiful as the day had been. It was the first barbecue of the year! They have vine growing, isn't it just awesome? They'll try to make something of it as it is the good type of vine out of which to make wine.
This finished to win me over: countryside is the best.
The next day, we went to my parents' house for my stepdad's birthday. My little niece loved picking flowers and handing bouquets to everyone.
Summery clothes are out, too! It does feel good to wear lighter and more colourful clothes. I'm a blue-addict, and this summer is going to be 50 shades of blue..
20 more days to wait for it to actually be summer! Let's start the countdown..
Till next time xx