Castle Country

Last weekend some more of our good friends came to visit us. They started their vacation in Spain, made their way up to Paris and then over to Angers for the weekend. We sent them over to the chateau for a quick look at the tapestry.

After that we rented a car and drove down to Rochemenier to visit a Troglodyte village/museum. Troglodyte is the word to describe a person who lives in a cave or in the ground. The site had a bunch of different man-made caves/rooms where they lived and kept animals and did all sorts of cave people things. I wondered why of all places France would have a history of cave dwellers, but someone explained to me that temperature stays pretty constant in the ground, which allowed people to stay warm without the slower process of building stone buildings, which are extremely inefficient. Even though nobody lived at this site, if you drive along the Loire river, you are bound to see a lot of cliffs with houses built into the side. These are called semi-troglo houses. We even know an American couple that lives in one.
So, enough with the science lesson. We were going to eat there in a cave restaurant, but we got done way too early, so we headed back to Angers and enjoyed some crepes at our favorite creperie. It happened to be St. Patty's day that day, and since Shawn is of the clan MacBrady (he can point out the sun for you on a clear day), he and I enjoyed a few Guinness for the sake of a guy who actually isn't Irish.

The next day we packed a lunch and headed for the town of Loches, on the other side of Tours, about an hour and a half from Angers. Shawn and Lauren read about a medieval castle there. This place was built on a big hill/rock. The main part was called the dungeon, even though it was more of what we would consider a tower. All that was left were walls that went up about 4 stories. The floors were gone, but there were metal grates that we could walk on at each level. There was lots of wind at the top, so it was a little uncomfortable standing on a grated floor so high up. The rest of the castle had a bunch of rooms and passageways that went way down in to the rock. It seemed like it went forever.





It's only a model...








don't let the pitiful looking façade fool you...








In case you don't get it...


There was also a more modern chateau here on site where people such as the woman first given the official title of Mistress of the King, and Joan of Arc and a few other historical troublemakers visited.
On the way back to Angers we meandered around the Loire valley between Tours and Angers. We drove by 3 somewhat famous chateaux. (We drove by because it was too late to go in). Villandry is said to have a very nice garden. Leaving there we got stopped by a DWI checkpoint... at 5 in the afternoon. When I told them I spoke English they got really excited... not sure why. They were then disappointed when I blew a 0.00. That was an interesting experience.

Azay le Rideau is another chateau situated on a river. I guess they did this for defensive purposes.




Then from there on to the Chateau d'Usse. This was said to have inspired some guy to write Sleeping Beauty or something.









Lastly, we drove past Langeais (maybe a picture later).

That night we cooked a French dinner for them, a shmorgasborg of different stuff from around the country. Now you know what you're missing if you don't visit.