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Photo du Jour: The Garden of Love at France’s Château de Villandry
Just a few days after Shawn and I got engaged, we visited the Château de Villandry and its enchanting garden, Le jardin d’Amour (The Garden of Love), for the first time. Villandry, a magnificent Renaissance castle, is located in France’s Loire Valley, a romantic region that’s castle-packed. Villandry’s Garden of Love has four sections, which…
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An Afternoon in Cinq-Mars-la-Pile, France: Where Roman Mysteries Meet Renaissance Drama
In a region that’s home to world-famous châteaux, other worthwhile destinations can easily be overshadowed. But the French town of Cinq-Mars-la-Pile, with its enigmatic Gallo-Roman tower and its small, but atmospheric castle, also deserves a peek when you’re visiting the Loire Valley. One sunny spring day, Shawn and I did just that. Catching a train…
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You Say Tomato, They Say Tomate: A French Château Celebrates 785 Varieties
Imagine strolling the grounds of a French château, surrounded by a kaleidoscope of tomatoes in every color, shape, and size imaginable. This isn’t a fairy tale meets cooking show mashup. It’s the annual Tomato Festival at the Château de la Bourdaisière in France’s Loire Valley. Since Shawn and I moved to France two years ago,…
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Living “La Vie en Rose” in Amboise, France
The coiffeuse in our neighborhood hair salon softly sang “La Vie en Rose” as I darted past her open door. Though the hair stylist didn’t know it, her singing created the perfect soundtrack as I set off to admire a pair of nearby cherry trees’ blossoms before the sun set. France’s Loire Valley gets its…
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Photo du Jour: A Hot Air Balloon Soars Over Leonardo da Vinci’s Resting Place in Amboise, France
A hot air balloon glides by the chapel housing Leonardo da Vinci’s tomb in the French city of Amboise. During the warm-weather months, sightings of colorful balloons (known as Montgolfière in French) are common here in the Loire Valley. And if you live in Amboise’s centre-ville, as we do, they’re even likely to wake you…
