France

First stop is Chateau Chambord, a vast, sprawling palace almost as big as Versailles though austere by comparison.  We were intrigued by the Leonardo da Vinci-designed double helix staircase - so unique and very impressive.  There were horse and cart rides around the gardens and I would have liked to learn more about the horses in harness, they were not tall but extremely stocky and powerful looking and I feel certain they, like so many things we have seen, are relics of an ancient breed.

After leaving the Chateau we drove through some magnificent European forest, so different from the rough, muted greys of the Australian bush we are used to and we stopped so I could go for a walk on the mossy green carpet beneath a soaring canopy of deep green leaves.  As I walked I noticed some exquisite mosses and fungi growing on the damp, mulchy earth.
 

We passed through some beautiful Loire valley countryside, past fields of sunflowers, corn and many vineyards.  We stopped at a bar by the river where we had strong coffee and baguettes for lunch while the English proprietor told us of some of the local attractions - troglodyte caves, Champignon caves and a mysterious 'town under the ground', which she was a little vague on.  She very kindly gave us one free pass to the Champignon caves so that was to be our next stop.

During the tour of the Champignon Caves we went past a partly curtained off area where we could see men carving at the sides of a large hollowed out cave - we realised that this was the 'underground town' - the men were carving a street-scape from the rock of the caves!  Our guide arranged for our group to go in and have a closer look and watch the workmen at work, it was fascinating and a huge undertaking for even though the stone is soft it will take years to complete as the detail is very fine.

We continued on to Chateau Chenenceau which is beautifully preserved and perfectly presented - it's garden's manicured and it's rooms set out in a good reconstruction of how they would have looked in their day.  It's magnificent aspect bridging the river makes it the most romantic and picturesque of the chateaux we have seen and we both agree that it's our favourite.

Once again it was getting quite late when we left and we were beginning to worry about finding accommodation again as there were a lot of people at the Chateau Chenenceau.  We turned along a back road in the nearby village and came across a small Chambre d'Hotes.  The building was a 15th Century farmhouse, the rooms were beautifully appointed and the hosts were charming, friendly and helpful - a night here more than made up for our night in the car!