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It's A WONDERful 2015 - Feb Cruise, May WDW grand tour, and France/DLP! NEW 10/25 Nice & End!

We had this last trip with rides like 7DMT and Big Thunder where Emma was too small but with the ride swap Judi or myself could take Olivia and Peter and to ride along (i.e. not with a guardian) you had to be 7 and Olivia got asked a few times if she was 7 ... so not sure if Aria could pass for 7 - if not she would need to ride with Dug or Dugette
So, if the seats are 2 by 2 and you have one adult and two kids, one kid is considered as riding alone? 7DMT is the main concern, as Dug isn't able to ride that (can't fit his legs under the bar and got turned away last trip :sad1:). Other rides, the two of us should be able to take the two big girls.
 
We went down the mini-van route and have become loyal to the Toyota Sienna as that is the only mini-van with an All Wheel Drive option and helps with the winters we have in the northeast. And I do have to say mini-vans nowadays are pretty cool with all the gadgets and features they have and they drive just like cars really

Also, you can get creative with fitting car seats if you get the right ones ... we are able to fit 3 across the back of my KIA Optima

I didn't know the Sienna was the only one with a AWD! That's crazy. That is a must for me, too.

We had this last trip with rides like 7DMT and Big Thunder where Emma was too small but with the ride swap Judi or myself could take Olivia and Peter and to ride along (i.e. not with a guardian) you had to be 7 and Olivia got asked a few times if she was 7 ... so not sure if Aria could pass for 7 - if not she would need to ride with Dug or Dugette

Oh, I thought they'd put her in a row with a stranger. Ugh!

Aw, that is super sweet! :lovestruc


Depending on what you end up getting, there are some carseats that are known for being a good fit three across in most vehicles - the Diono Radian is the one I've seen mentioned most. (I just was looking into/ordering new carseats, as Izzy apparently has a long torso or something and is about to outgrow her convertible seats that go up to 65 pounds and 49 inches, which she is not remotely close to, but her shoulders are up to the top of the straps. :confused3)


Well, for your sake and your sanity, I'm hoping not either. But it seems that Mayan goddess really took your fertility request seriously, not to mention the quadrupling HCG...:eek: I hope the ultrasound is perfect - I can't remember, can they see the heartbeat this early? I think maybe??


For the life of me, I can't figure out why there is RS on FEA. :confused: Really, Soarin' is restricted? I didn't realize that, just figured it was like watching a movie with a seatbelt on. :rotfl: Don't jump off and I think you'll be okay. ;)


Yeah, I was thinking about that too. My other thought was that she and Izzy could ride together (and hold hands :lovestruc) and I could ride with a stranger. Unless Dug is up for trying it again, but I'm doubting that. We'll figure something out.


Wow, what a tall girl!! I don't think Izzy rode that until the June 2014 trip, so she would have been 21 months.


That's great she is able to hold the spot. I know that here most home daycares can't have more than one infant at a time, so it was such a challenge to find daycare for Izzy (but we ended up with a great one - even though it was really the only one we could find with an opening). That is incredible that she only charges half price!!!! I've heard of maybe a 10% discount, but never that much. Wow!! I don't know what our daycare provider does, but now I'm curious. :scratchin

For 7DMT, you may be riding once with Izzy and once again with Aria lol! (If that's okay).

same here, we have Britax car seats and I'm pretty sure Aria is too tall for it already which makes me mad because these things are 300 each!

Yeah - If I went today, it'd just be a fetal pole most likely, but possibly a heartbeat (I saw a heartbeat when preggo with Aria at 5w6d!). Next Tuesday there should be a heartbeat unless my timing is totally off. They say it starts right around 6w.

We really lucked out with her daycare. #1 we love her and #2 she is the most affordable we could ever hope for.
 
So, if the seats are 2 by 2 and you have one adult and two kids, one kid is considered as riding alone? 7DMT is the main concern, as Dug isn't able to ride that (can't fit his legs under the bar and got turned away last trip :sad1:). Other rides, the two of us should be able to take the two big girls.

Oh, I thought they'd put her in a row with a stranger. Ugh!

Yeah, when there is a height restriction you can't have 1 adult with two kids that are under 7 ... to ride alone (even if ultimately sitting next to a stranger) you have to 7

I didn't know the Sienna was the only one with a AWD! That's crazy. That is a must for me, too.

My understanding is year ago a few others had AWD but right now the Sienna is the only one .... we wish there were others just so we had options, but doesn't appear to be the case. Fortunately we have been happy with the Sienna (we are on our 3rd one that we have leased)
 
Yeah, when there is a height restriction you can't have 1 adult with two kids that are under 7 ... to ride alone (even if ultimately sitting next to a stranger) you have to 7
Wow, that's gonna make it tricky when Maya is big enough too!

Oh, I thought they'd put her in a row with a stranger. Ugh!
Hmmm, maybe we can make a friend with a single rider or party of three before riding...:scratchin

For 7DMT, you may be riding once with Izzy and once again with Aria lol! (If that's okay).
Works for me!

same here, we have Britax car seats and I'm pretty sure Aria is too tall for it already which makes me mad because these things are 300 each!
Ours are Britax too (Marathon Classics - but at least I got them on a crazy sale at like $100/each). I just ordered the Britax Frontier Clicktights to replace them, as they are supposed to have very high harness heights (several extra inches vs. what we have). Cheapest I could find was $245/each, though. :crazy2: But, I THINK we can make these last until she doesn't need a seat anymore (they convert to boosters when needed too).

Yeah - If I went today, it'd just be a fetal pole most likely, but possibly a heartbeat (I saw a heartbeat when preggo with Aria at 5w6d!). Next Tuesday there should be a heartbeat unless my timing is totally off. They say it starts right around 6w.
Oh, great - I hope they can see it! I think I was maybe 7 weeks for my first one with Izzy and we definitely saw it then!

We really lucked out with her daycare. #1 we love her and #2 she is the most affordable we could ever hope for.
So glad you have a great place. I feel like we lucked out too, but probably not as much on the pricing as you. But MN is actually an extremely expensive state for daycare, so it is what it is.
 


I don't think there is a pregnancy restriction for Soarin'! I remember riding it when we went when I was pregnant and being happy there wasn't a restriction. The only one I rode that I wasn't supposed to was the safari.

The Diono Radian car seats are awesome. We now have 4 of them (2 for each car) and love them!

Also, the Chinese gender chart was correct for me both times. Will you find out via blood testing or do you have to wait until the U/S around 18 weeks?
 
Yeah, when there is a height restriction you can't have 1 adult with two kids that are under 7 ... to ride alone (even if ultimately sitting next to a stranger) you have to 7



My understanding is year ago a few others had AWD but right now the Sienna is the only one .... we wish there were others just so we had options, but doesn't appear to be the case. Fortunately we have been happy with the Sienna (we are on our 3rd one that we have leased)

Okay thanks for the clarification! I obviously haven't dealt with this whole multiple kid thing much lol!

It looks like you're right. I need to figure this out, the Sienna I want looks like it'll cost 1200/month car payment? That sounds ludicrous lol!

Wow, that's gonna make it tricky when Maya is big enough too!


Hmmm, maybe we can make a friend with a single rider or party of three before riding...:scratchin


Works for me!


Ours are Britax too (Marathon Classics - but at least I got them on a crazy sale at like $100/each). I just ordered the Britax Frontier Clicktights to replace them, as they are supposed to have very high harness heights (several extra inches vs. what we have). Cheapest I could find was $245/each, though. :crazy2: But, I THINK we can make these last until she doesn't need a seat anymore (they convert to boosters when needed too).


Oh, great - I hope they can see it! I think I was maybe 7 weeks for my first one with Izzy and we definitely saw it then!


So glad you have a great place. I feel like we lucked out too, but probably not as much on the pricing as you. But MN is actually an extremely expensive state for daycare, so it is what it is.

Yeah, going to really put a damper on my solo trips (solo parent trips anyway). We'll figure it out though!

Daycare here is all over the place. near my work it's an average of about 300/week per kid. By my husband's office it's more like 500/week/kid. By our house it's much cheaper since we don't live in either city lol!

I don't think there is a pregnancy restriction for Soarin'! I remember riding it when we went when I was pregnant and being happy there wasn't a restriction. The only one I rode that I wasn't supposed to was the safari.

The Diono Radian car seats are awesome. We now have 4 of them (2 for each car) and love them!

Also, the Chinese gender chart was correct for me both times. Will you find out via blood testing or do you have to wait until the U/S around 18 weeks?

Oh phew!! That is great to know, thanks! IMO it doesn't really make sense to have one. Yeah, I've been on the Safari preggo although I did ask for the front (same with when I took Maya on at 8w old).

Good to know you like the Dionos.

Okay, so I looked into the Chinese Gender chart thing. Mainly because websites were telling me all different things. (Using Lunar age and Lunar conception month). So I found one website that explained it a bit more and showed there are actually two theories for the Chinese gender chart, and actually gives you results using each one.

Aria - one said girl, one said boy

Maya - both said boy

New baby - one says girl, one says boy

SO basically, total crapshoot based on these results LOL
 
Congratulations!!! What exciting news! Sending good thoughts for a healthy and happy 9 months!
 


Will you find out via blood testing or do you have to wait until the U/S around 18 weeks?

I forgot to comment about this sorry! I am hoping to get the blood test done again but I am going to assume it won't be covered by my insurance - I'm 33. I did it with Maya because Women & Infants was running a test of the blood test for FREE! I guess when insurance doesn't pay it's like over $1k for the test? Anyway I did the blood test at 12w and got the results at 14w. With Aria I did a 3D ultrasound at 15.5 weeks, so that is what I'll do this time too unless I can do the blood test.

Congratulations!!! What exciting news! Sending good thoughts for a healthy and happy 9 months!

Thank you so much!
 
It looks like you're right. I need to figure this out, the Sienna I want looks like it'll cost 1200/month car payment? That sounds ludicrous lol!
:faint: I'm pretty sure I could take at least one Disney trip a month on that! :eek:

Yeah, going to really put a damper on my solo trips (solo parent trips anyway). We'll figure it out though!
Hmmm, maybe Izzy and I will have to show up and rent a double stroller to help you out. :scratchin :rotfl:

Daycare here is all over the place. near my work it's an average of about 300/week per kid. By my husband's office it's more like 500/week/kid. By our house it's much cheaper since we don't live in either city lol!
Yikes. Around our area, I think the average home daycare is about $200/week, but I've seen it vary from like $150-$250. The centers are literally twice as much, though. $400/wk. is common. :crazy2: I really have no idea how people can have 2-3 kids in a center at once. I mean, we are not a high cost of living area in general, so salaries are fairly average, but daycare is WAY up there in comparison. Glad you have a sweet deal to make this easier to deal with! :thumbsup2

Okay, so I looked into the Chinese Gender chart thing. Mainly because websites were telling me all different things. (Using Lunar age and Lunar conception month). So I found one website that explained it a bit more and showed there are actually two theories for the Chinese gender chart, and actually gives you results using each one.

Aria - one said girl, one said boy

Maya - both said boy

New baby - one says girl, one says boy

SO basically, total crapshoot based on these results LOL
I've never tried this, so I just googled the first one that came up and it said Izzy was a girl, so yay! :thumbsup2 (Out of curiosity, I looked at the results if I hypothetically were to get preggo this year - 3 out of the 4 months are boys. Interesting.)

I forgot to comment about this sorry! I am hoping to get the blood test done again but I am going to assume it won't be covered by my insurance - I'm 33. I did it with Maya because Women & Infants was running a test of the blood test for FREE! I guess when insurance doesn't pay it's like over $1k for the test? Anyway I did the blood test at 12w and got the results at 14w. With Aria I did a 3D ultrasound at 15.5 weeks, so that is what I'll do this time too unless I can do the blood test.
I doubt they'll provide it free - I was 35 when I was pregnant w/Izzy and I did have some extra testing, but not anything that was extensive enough to tell us if she was a girl or boy. I had to wait until the 20 week ultrasound. But good luck - maybe there will be a way to get it again. :confused3 Cool that they were testing it last time.
 
Congratulations! I was so excited reading this after reading about how difficult it was for you before. Hope you have a healthy pregnancy and that the girls love being big sisters.
 
Congratulations! As soon as I saw the title, I couldn't wait to read your update!!! Traveling with 3 was definitely doable, but my 3 are more spread out (they were 6, 3 and brand new 1 when we last went!). We have 2 Diono Radians in our Envoy (DS1 is in a booster.) I drive a Traverse, and love it!

I can't wait to hear the update on Tuesday! ;)

The only thing I can think of why there is RS on FEA, is the drop?! I so wish they offered it for Haunted Mansion, because it's a favorite of mine, but our DD refuses to ride, which means one of us has to miss it, or waste time standing in line twice!

Again- congrats! What a fun surprise to come home to! :love: (We had issues conceiving our first and second, and had 3 m/c. #3 was conceived on one round of clomid.)
 
We had a great ultrasound this morning - one healthy baby in there with a hb of 118. Now the waiting commences, as we have to wait another 6 weeks for our first true appointment with the doctor.

:faint: I'm pretty sure I could take at least one Disney trip a month on that! :eek:


Hmmm, maybe Izzy and I will have to show up and rent a double stroller to help you out. :scratchin :rotfl:


Yikes. Around our area, I think the average home daycare is about $200/week, but I've seen it vary from like $150-$250. The centers are literally twice as much, though. $400/wk. is common. :crazy2: I really have no idea how people can have 2-3 kids in a center at once. I mean, we are not a high cost of living area in general, so salaries are fairly average, but daycare is WAY up there in comparison. Glad you have a sweet deal to make this easier to deal with! :thumbsup2


I've never tried this, so I just googled the first one that came up and it said Izzy was a girl, so yay! :thumbsup2 (Out of curiosity, I looked at the results if I hypothetically were to get preggo this year - 3 out of the 4 months are boys. Interesting.)


I doubt they'll provide it free - I was 35 when I was pregnant w/Izzy and I did have some extra testing, but not anything that was extensive enough to tell us if she was a girl or boy. I had to wait until the 20 week ultrasound. But good luck - maybe there will be a way to get it again. :confused3 Cool that they were testing it last time.

Honestly when the slight thought of twins came up I was going to take a serious look at living on one income -we'd have 3 kids in daycare and one in before/after school care. With two in full time plus the before school care, it won't be that much more than we are paying now at least!

I'll definitely be scheduling a 3D ultrasound, but I'll put in a call to doctors office maybe around 10 weeks to at least ask.

Congratulations! I was so excited reading this after reading about how difficult it was for you before. Hope you have a healthy pregnancy and that the girls love being big sisters.

Thank you so much!! I know, what an amazing surprise after all that we've been through!

Congratulations! As soon as I saw the title, I couldn't wait to read your update!!! Traveling with 3 was definitely doable, but my 3 are more spread out (they were 6, 3 and brand new 1 when we last went!). We have 2 Diono Radians in our Envoy (DS1 is in a booster.) I drive a Traverse, and love it!

I can't wait to hear the update on Tuesday! ;)

The only thing I can think of why there is RS on FEA, is the drop?! I so wish they offered it for Haunted Mansion, because it's a favorite of mine, but our DD refuses to ride, which means one of us has to miss it, or waste time standing in line twice!

Again- congrats! What a fun surprise to come home to! :love: (We had issues conceiving our first and second, and had 3 m/c. #3 was conceived on one round of clomid.)

Oh good to know about the cars! I don't think traveling with 3 will be too tough when DH is along, it's more those extra trips I've enjoyed taking that will definitely be tougher. Flying alone with 3 kids won't be much fun lol!

I'm sorry to hear about the m/c too :( I am a bit worried about having to wait until 12 weeks to see the doctor, I think I'll call and just be sure he thinks that's wise (I just saw an ultrasound tech today who told me to schedule it then).

Just wanted to say congrats! Hoping for a happy and healthy 9 months!

Thank you so much!!

Oh my gosh, how exciting!!! Congrats!!!

Thank you!! Definitely unexpected lol!

Congratulations! It is such wonderful news.

Thank you, it is!
 
Back to the France TR!

Today we spent the day visiting chateaus in the Loire. We had no reservations for meals, and started out the day in the cottage with some more fingerling potatoes, chocolate croissants and fruit. The gas ran out during making the potatoes, so I sent a quick message to the home owner to ask the neighbor lady (remember, no English lol) to fix it. Instead of a large propane tank with propane delivery trucks it seems the norm is just to use small tanks (like for grills) even for whole house heating. Then we headed off for the day. It was raining, again, but thankfully the sun came out in spurts so it wasn't a total wash.

Our two main goals for the day was Villandry, known for its gardens, and Chenonceau, known for its chateau, history, and location sprawling across a river. Villandry was about 35 minutes away vs Chenonceau only 5 minutes away so we opted to do the drive first since we were up early.

As we got off the highway, we noted signs for Chateau Usse, which I knew was Sleeping Beauty's castle, so we made a mental note to look for it if we were up to it. I had mapped it out beforehand and could have sworn it was much further away! A couple minutes later we headed to Villandry where we opted for tickets to the chateau and the gardens (I think it's more popular just to buy garden tickets, but it was still sprinkling so we bided our time inside.)

The chateau itself is stunning on the outside - with a moat just like a fairytale surrounding it.

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They advised us to park the stroller outside so we left it and headed on in. First there was a scale map of the chateau and gardens.

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It was nice to see a chateau actually decorated inside (as opposed to Chambord) and it reminded me of my Grandmom's old house as she spent many, many trips to France picking up antiques and furnishing her old house (she has since moved, but I remember it fondly, it was an old mansion in downtown Waxahachie with 4 floors and an elevator).

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A fountain in the dining room!

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The kitchen

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View from a window - it was looking beautiful outside!

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The ceiling of a Moroccan inspired room

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In the children's wing which had an alcove between two kid's rooms for a nanny to sleep

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View from the children's quarters

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A little history on Villandry - the lands were where an ancient fortress once stood until the 17th century, then a new chateau was built. During the French Revolution, Napoleon acquired it for his brother. In 1906 Carvallo purchased it and turned it into what it is today, still owned by the Carvallo family.

Dollhouse and puppet theater

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Every chateau in the area has to have an apartment for kings in case they decide to live there for a while, and this one had an apartment set up just in case. From there you can go up to the top for views over the gardens.

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I felt like I had popped at this point

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That was about the end of the inside tour, so we headed outside. We came out pretty far from the stroller but Andrew ran around and got it.

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The vegetable gardens were stunning, but roped off so people wouldn't indulge themselves I guess!

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I tried putting my camera on ledges for some family photos but they were all awkward so I finally asked someone to take our photo

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Then we went in search of something fun for Aria - a maze! I knew both Villandry and Chenonceau had mazes, so they were must-dos for us.

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We had a ball running through this and there was no one else there so we let aria run wild through it and played a bit of hide and seek. Once finished we kept on going, and stumbled into a totally hidden playground!

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It was sprinkling on and off but not enough to bother us. It was also pretty chilly today, around 55 degrees I'd say but felt warmer in the sun.

We found the star garden next

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Then down a big hill to this area

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Lots of grape vines

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Looks like this was a camera timer shot

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And another

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Aria thought it was hilarious she stole my sunglasses

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After touring the gardens we were ready to head out. It was about 11:30 at this point so we figured we had time to go to Usse as well. Continued in next post!
 
So we got back in the car and plugged in Usse in the GPS and it really wasn't too far away. Not sure what I was doing on Google maps! Aria was excited to head there though considering the sleeping beauty connotation.

We arrived and actually first stopped outside at a little sandwich shop for lunch

our view upon arrival

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I took a photo of a napkin lol!

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I ordered some hot chocolate to share with Aria and some sort of sandwich, everything was just OK but filled our bellies. Then we headed inside. We learned the chateau was first build in the middle ages - in 1000! A Viking first owned it. Before heading inside we checked out the carriage house, small chapel, and some caves.

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I think the bell struck One or something and it was loud

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Elaborate seats in the church

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Inside the caves where they kept the wine

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The carriage house also had stables for horses

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Then it suddenly downpoured so we made a mad dash for the chateau!

Around the chateau are various figures in period clothes, I guess they change this out each year.

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I think we weren't supposed to take photos so I put the camera away. We saw a small armory, some bedrooms, again a room devoted to IF a king happened to want to stay, lots of period clothing, and the coolest thing was a hidden room under the kitchen which connected to a cave - there were multiple escape passages built off this room heading underground and coming out at various locations in the Chinon forest kilometers away in case of attack.

Also part of the tour was "sleeping beauty's tower". What is silly is that there were no real books or other such things on the story, and no one spoke English, so I didn't figure out until later the true connection of the Usse chateau to sleeping beauty. It turns out, the author of the story was inspired by Usse to write the story after seeing the many turrets and other architectural features. They obviously have banked on that and they decorated one of the towers like the story, even using Disney music playing in the background. We joked that more than likely, they did not have rights from Disney to do this!

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It also offered nice views though and something even neater was that you could go all the way up to the top and see how it was built

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On our way out I got another photo of Aria

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Then we made the very picturesque ride back to our area with intentions to go to Chenonceau. We arrived after 45 minutes and Aria was passed.out so we decided that I would run in to the grocery store and pick up things for dinner/breakfast, run home and put them in the fridge and then go to the chateau. This worked out well since Aria stayed asleep through it all! I found frozen pizza which I was very excited about LOL, chili oil (which they serve in pizza restaurants in Italy but not in the US), a Tortilla Espanola (I lived off of these when I lived in Spain since I didn't eat meat, it's just potato, onion and egg, and you eat it with Mayo! I was excited to find one in the grocery store, as we make them at home) and some cookies. Then ran home, put them in the fridge and went back out.

We were pretty tired at this point, but this was a must-do for me (Andrew wasn't so thrilled). I think 2 chateaus per day is maximum, truly.

continued in next post for photos
 
At Chenonceau you park, buy tickets, and then walk through a huge forest like grounds in order to get to the chateau. It's completely hidden by the forest.

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On the way however, we discovered the maze off to one side so headed in there

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At the center of the maze

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We eventually made it!

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At Chenonceau there are also beautiful gardens. One thing I love about it is the history - I love the CW show "Reign" so this is in the same timeframe - King Francis I seized the chateau in 1535 for unpaid debts. When he died, King Henry II gave the chateau to his mistress Diane de Poitieres (she is in the show too). His wife however - Catherine de Medici, was never happy about this so when he died, she took it back for herself, giving Diane another chateau as a replacement. Then she moved in and added many gardens. So there are stunning gardens here, plus stables, horses, goats, other animals, a huge vegetable garden, plus their own still-working winery.

Anyway we headed left first to check out the gardens and to see the chateau, which spans the River Cher.

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I fell in love with the carriage house!

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Then we headed inside - I first wanted to check out the tower outside, but it isn't open to the public.

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The ballroom which spans the river

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If (when) we return to the Loire, one place I would love to revisit is chenonceau. And take a river cruise to check it out that way!

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Something super cool was that we could go down into the supports, which were actually the kitchens - smart, because boats could tie up outside and bring supplies right in to the kitchen from the river!

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Back upstairs we checked out the views

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And the bedrooms

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A tired Aria and a tapestry of the chateau

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It was getting late, but we had a couple quick stops. We made it just in time to the winery, which closed at 6, and Andrew did a wine tasting and selected 3 bottles to bring home.

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Afterwards we were heading in the direction of the exit, but had more stops before we could leave. Aria spotted another hidden playground so we headed there of course

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Then quickly past some vintage cars

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Love these buildings!

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Past the vegetable gardens

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We also found some goats and then called it a night.

Back at the house, we packed while the pizzas cooked, enjoyed those immensely (I just love pizza, we have it every Friday night and i never get tired of it!) then relaxed for a bit before heading to sleep. We had a good amount of driving ahead with a neat mid-day stop on our way to Beaune in Burgundy!
 
Looks like a full day with some amazing buildings you got to see - the architecture really is amazing

The gardens are really beautiful especially at the first one ... I think those are something I would be like "wow, those are pretty! ok, what's next?" :rotfl:

I do love where you got to see the structure of the tower at Usse

The building of Chenonceau is amazing to me as I can't even imagine building something like that, out on/in the river centuries ago with like no technology.

Well, at least Andrew got in a wine tasting for suffering through more than 2 chateaus in a day ;)
 
This looks like such a great day! The buildings and grounds are so beautiful and looks like there was enough fun stuff to keep Aria entertained, as well.

You got some really great family photos, too!

I lived in Spain for a while, as well. Where did you live?
 

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