French Wine Country: Part Une

First of all, Joyeuses Pâques! (Happy {belated} Easter!).  Forgive me for my absence, but we have just returned from our long awaited road trip down into the French wine country.  If you appreciate the countryside (especially the flower filled French countryside), old limestone chateaus covered in wisteria and even sort of like wine, you have got to take a trip to Loire Valley.  A few pictures of the landscape just to persuade....

And the wisteria.... have you ever seen anything like it??! I have officially fallen in love with the color purple.

We stayed just outside of the most fabulously cute little town in the Eastern Loire Valley called Chinon.  Only a short two hour drive from Paris, Chinon is a small town right in the middle of the famous Loire Valley vineyards filled with character and charm.  From the cobblestone streets to terraced cafes, it is a perfect place to anchor down to explore the region.  There is just so much to tell you about, I don't know where to begin!! I guess I will start with pretty pictures to capture your attention and move to wine discussion apres.

Chinon.

The Mr.'s sunglasses finally kicked the can (I say finally because they actually broke about nine months ago but he continued to wear them with a twist tie attaching the broken frame together).

 I wanted to move into this little house covered in ivy, roses and wisteria sitting on the bank of the river.

 We stayed at Château de Marçay which was a few minutes outside Chinon.  It was perfection. (One of the upsides to the Loire Valley versus the better known Provence is the major bang for your buck). I would highly recommend this as a honeymoon destination.

Château de Marçay.

 

The even tinier town of Marçay sat at the foot of the château.  About as picturesque as they come.

 This is the view from the terrace of the hotel.

(Very excited to have the camera again - we either left it at home or forgot the charger on our last two trips.  This should explain the copious number of pictures...)

The restaurant in this hotel was incredible. This is the little vegetable garden where they grow some of their own produce.

The beauty surrounding the hotel was unbelievable.

I was crushed to have to leave. 

But as I will tell you about tomorrow... our next stop, Saint Emilion, may have been even better.

For now, laundry, coffee filters, securing legal residency in France.... real life awaits.