When planning this vacation, the one thing I really wanted to do was take a day trip to Chenonceau. Zach was a good sport to come along with me, considering it took three train rides there and three train rides back. We rode those three seperate TGV trains from Paris > Tours > Chenonceaux [the town that the chateau is located in]. I knew it was going to be a hectic commute – considering that on one connecting train we had less than 6 minutes to get to our next train. It was a stressful morning – we only had confirmation numbers for our tickets and none of the self service kiosks were working. We basically got on our first train ride with less than 1 minute from departure. It’s crazy, quite a few people speak English in Paris – but as soon as you get to the train stations it is like they “forget” or are unwilling to help crazy Americans find their train platform. And we were crazy alright. Darting in and out of the other passengers, waving at each other from different platforms, and yelling “excusez-moi” so we didn’t plow over anyone. Zach also got in a fight [verbal, not physical] with a gypsy woman at the Tours station when he gave her money and she was angry with him for not giving her more. She followed us for a good 20 minutes and then called her boyfriend to come intimidate us. It got weird.

Needless to say, we finally made it to the tiny town of Chenonceaux. We made the short walk over to the grounds – an archway of trees and falling leaves. Zach turns into a 5-year-old when he sees falling leaves.

Chenonceau literally straddles the Loire River. It stretches from one side to the other, and with the moat is is almost completely surrounded by water.

We walked through the three stories of the chateau and through the galleries [which were decorated for Christmas] and then outside to both of the gardens.

The chateau had real fires burning in all of the larger rooms. This surprised me – in a historical monument you would think they wouldn’t ever want to burn a real fire, but the staff was constantly checking on these massive mantels.

After the gardens we ventured on over to the maze.

Zach wanted to take a break and get a crepe – he claims it was the best crepe he has ever had. I wouldn’t know. He gobbled it up before giving me a bite.

We then decided to explore the town before our train was to depart. Literally we saw three people the entire time we were there – and one of them was the most adorable little French man on a bicycle with a basket. I want to live in the town, with those three people. Also, it was completely silent apart from the occasional motorcycle that zipped by. And the sound of our feet on the stone sidewalks.

Then we made our way back to the platform back to St. Pierre and then on back to Paris.

We ate dinner outside at a cafe on rue Cler. A tiny detail I debated on leaving out, but am divulging to you know: there was a mouse at that cafe. He ran by my leg. Paris is an old city, undoubtably filled with rats and mice that I could have never seen, and we were outside…but I couldn’t stop thinking about the mouse the rest of the meal. Also, Zach kept calling him Ratatouille. I didn’t eat much – and my pasta was really good, too. So, on the way home we stopped at a fancy creperie on our way back to our apartment so I could get a crepe. Banana and Nutella please. The staff kept offering us fancy alcoholic beverages, for free! We kept refusing, the most polite way we knew how. When they kept offering – Zach announced “She’s with child, she can’t drink. Pregnant. Yep, she’s pregnant.” Everyone looked at me with the same expression, ‘This child…is having a bebe?’ Obviously I am not “with child” but Zach thought it was pretty hilarious when he saw their faces. They didn’t offer me anything after that. They probably thought I was starring in the hit MTV Show, 16 and Pregnant – the French [especially the teenage/younger generation] love American TV shows and music. They also listen to Michael Jackson. A lot. I mean, I miss him too…but come on. Literally at every cafe we stopped at.

We enjoyed our crepes back at our apartment. Just the two of us.