Loire valley.....vendee....


Well thank heavens for gps we made it safely to our destination in Loire valley. It is truly amazing. Don't misunderstand I love both London and Paris, but the French country is what I was really longing for. It is soooo beautiful! We had the most amazing blue skies, with puffy white clouds and perfectly pleasant warm weather. When we got to our camp sight it was everything we hoped for. The boys went nuts when they saw it. I think it's like a sandals resort for the working class. The first thing we noticed when we drove in was a skate park. Tristan was stoked. The mobile homes are great. Totally clean and comfortable. The First thing we did was stop at a store and make our first dinner. It is so much fun to cook somewhere else, different ingredients and nothing is familiar. I bought Dijon mustard, which is so good when you buy it near the actual Dijon area of France. then some chicken, some bouquet garni thing in the fridge section olive oil lemons potatoes. They use mostly this mâché salad greens which I rarely see in the states but is what they had most of. Parmesan.We were set. Oh I can't believe I almost forgot the most amazing butter and champagne that cost only about seven bucks. You can drink like a king here. Love it.
After dinner we went for a walk, got the first glimpse of the pool. Kids flipped. Then scouted out some go karts. I didn't think they would ever go to sleep. They woke up at the crack of dawn and they spent the whole day on those go carts and at the pool. The pool had three water slides which they ran up ,swung off of ,dangled from ,and compromised in every which way possible. The cool thing is they just don't have a lot rules here. They would have surely been kicked out of any park in the states for sure, but here they just let them run amuck. The Scottish park host just said " as long as their having a good time". The best part is they all had so much fun together. Tristan totally forgot about his headphones, and iPod. He just ran with the wind in his hair playing the way a boy should.
The next day we toured the Loire region. WOW!!!!! We wen to chateau usse. This is the castle that Disney used as it's inspiration for cindarellas castle. It was awesome. I loved it way more than Versailles. The setting is just so incredible. It overlooks the most pristine green valley. It's just so stunning, you should all google it. Hopefully tomorrow we can post some pictures finally. ( Were gonna try to figure that out)
A few more castles we saw then drove through vouvray. I think it may be the most beautiful place in the world. AND Fred flinstone could have lived there. Really cool houses built right into the side of rock mountains. I can't get over how much money must have been in France, because there is no shortage of castles, mini castles, everywhere you look. They must have been the homes of lords back in the day. I just can't get it out of my head. I have seen so many beautiful amazing things that I wake up dreaming of imaginary places that are similar to what I see but totally made up. that's a true story, to describe what an impression it made on me.
Jim has a new mission in life. To outwit the French governments road fees. The drive from Paris cost about 35 euro in road tolls. So yesterday while traveling to the town of tours,were following the GPS which told us to get back on the A10 which is one of the charge roads. Jim quickly went the opposite direction, convinced he could find a free way to get there. Long story short the way the GPS told us to go was free. Instead we paid 4 euro to make a u turn ( and an extra 35 minutes) to go back to the original spot where he defied the woman talking to us on the GPS. The good thing that has come with his determination to avoid the toll roads is we are driving on all the back roads and see a lot more this way.
I love French people. I seriously question anyone who disagrees. They are reserved,but so kind. They are so willing to be helpful,so gracious and mannerly.Today I ordered a bag of chips with my beer and they pored them on a plate. I thought to myself, How funny, that makes eating Chips so much more sophisticated.
Today we drove to the Atlantic coast. A really cool park with great waterside park for kids but were not impressed with the area. Seen one ocean seen em all. Tommorrow were headed to the dourdogne area.( I'm sure misspelled) Really looking forward to that.
We are really having a great time together. We are doing great getting along. Cole looked for sand dollars today on the beach and asked " mommy are they called sand euros here?" We all have at least one nasty wart which we spend a lot of conversation on. Tristan is the only one who successfully rid himself of the disgusting parasite. He told me he bit his off in class then dug it out with a pencil. I'm really getting to know my kids.
Well hope I haven't bored anyone, this is as much for me as all of you so I don't forget. I miss my friends and family and often think I wish so and so was here with me drinking this or eating that. Love you!!! Catch up soon