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After 5 gelato-filled nights in Venice and 2 chocolate-filled days in Zurich, our travels took us to the French countryside, or more specifically, the Loire Valley: land of medieval castles and royal châteaux and vineyards as far as the eye can see. We spent 6 days in this lovely little region of France, exploring castle gardens, wandering flower-lined streets, sipping wine and nibbling on fresh cheese and crusty bread.
It was the middle of May when we were there, and the picturesque little towns were in full bloom. It’s one of the reasons why spring is my favorite time to travel: everything is so much more charming when flowers are involved. It’s also generally less crowded than summer and more temperate too. It was actually a bit colder than I anticipated, and I spent the first few days shivering until our hostess so kindly lent me a scarf (note to self: always pack a lightweight scarf even if the weather forecast misleads you). I eventually picked up my own scarf from a boutique in town, and wouldn’t you know, as I stepped out of the store, the clouds parted, the sun warmed my face, and the temperature continued to go up from there (should’ve bought the scarf earlier in the trip! Ha!)
When we were just starting to plan this trip, Venice was a given, but it seemed logical to make the most of our travel (the flight over being the most expensive part) and see another place while we were over there any way.
My travel bucket list is full of destinations, from Iceland and Portugal to Croatia and Greece, not to mention the rest of Italy and, well, everywhere else (just about). One place that wasn’t on my shortlist, however, was the French countryside (Taylor and I usually preferring to stick to cities when we travel).
After a bit of hypothetical back and forth, my aunt sent me a link to her friend’s chateau in France. When you get an email that says, “My friend has a château in France”… do you really need to think about it?
When I clicked the link and actually saw Maison Dovalle, well, let’s just say I’ve never responded to an email so quickly and confidently. Yes! A thousand times yes! Don’t twist my arm or anything.
So, it was settled, we’d spend 2 weeks in Europe, splitting our time between Venice and France. (We also ended up with 2 bonus days in between, which we spent in Zurich. You can read about that here!)
This is how we found ourselves in the tiny hilltop town of Montreuil-Bellay, about 3 hours outside of Paris, staying in a beautiful 15th century castle chateau overlooking the valley.
from Love and Olive Oil https://ift.tt/2o1DwRG
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