France 2015 Day 7 – Chateau and Lyon

Another day of long driving as we attempt to drop in at Lyon at the end of the day. This was so because from Blois onwards, there weren’t any other cities of interest back to Switzerland, and going to Annecy direct could be too challenging. So Lyon was our intermediate stop.

Even with this long drive ahead of us, we still visited Chateau Chenonceau nonetheless. Drove an hour to the Chateau after checking out and parked at the free parking lots. There were a lot of visitors at the Chateau so after purchasing tickets without the audio guide, we quickly made our way into the Chateau with only brochure on hand. If there was more time, the information from the guide could make the visit more meaningful but we had a tight travel schedule.

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The forested pathway to the Chateau.
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Chateau in sight.

Visited the various rooms, decorated different and the kitchen at the arches of the Chateau and then we got out to one of the gardens to take a picture, referencing to its popular one with it over the water. I thought it wasn’t as nice that the one of Chambord, because of lighting, water and people but still it was nice.

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Rooms with a  huge fireplace.
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Chapel within the Chateau.
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One of the rooms.
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Hallway above the arches.
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Kitchen situated under the hallway.
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Room with many paintings.
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Nicely framed drawings and decorated fireplace.
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Another hallway.
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Bedroom.
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Another bedroom.
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Bedroom with black walls.

We took our leave and had some light lunch by having crepes sold at the shop at the entrance. There were many school children in the toilet with their female teacher so when I visited the toilet, I had to queue and wait for all the kids to finish. There were other visitors who continued to use the urinals regardless.

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Garden next to Chateau.
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Huge garden.
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Chateau over water.
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Crepe shop outside the chateau.
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Breakfast.

Then the 5hrs drive that we were very worried since the previous day ruckus by baby K. It was painless as he was unexpectedly well behaved! Fell asleep twice by himself as he sat in the baby chair and not much crying. We did only one lunch stop as he woke up but all in all, a much easier drive. However, I got really sleepy on the way so I had to pinch myself to keep awake. Dozing off at 130km/hr could lead to terrible consequences.

Service station en route to Lyon.
Service station en route to Lyon.
Lunch at the service station.
Lunch at the service station.
Cup of soup.
Cup of soup.
Soup dispenser machine.
Soup dispenser machine.
Rare nursing room at the service station.
Rare nursing room at the service station.
Toll ticket.
Toll ticket.

Approaching Lyon, we got stuck in a jam, as expected of major cities. It was about a 15mins delay and a further 15mins when I navigated into a parking which didn’t belong to the Mercure hotel and had to drive around to get to the hotel. Also there was renovation going around and the only available parking was at the front of the hotel entrance.

Checked in and glad to find a cot prepared for baby K. He was excited when we left him there but of course he wasn’t going to sleep there tonight.

Large bed in a small room.
Large bed in a small room.
Bedroom from another angle.
Bedroom from another angle.
Cot.
Cot.
Bathroom.
Bathroom.

As usual, we ordered in room dining. This time it was because we were too tired to go out for dinner. Did the baby stuff but I fell asleep because of exhaustion. Woke up after the nap and took some medicine that I prepared ahead for gout, as I felt some pain on my ankles. Blogged a bit before going back to sleep. The most challenging of drives should be over.

In room dining.
In room dining of salmon and sandwiches.

France 2015 Day 6 – Blois and Chateau

Again it was a long day of traveling. Hungry from the lack of dinner the night before, we chose to eat at the hotel’s breakfast buffet. Sadly it didn’t have much variety, some pastries, some yogurt, some cold cuts and that was it.

Breakfast buffet selection.
Breakfast buffet selection.
Good bye MSM!
Good bye MSM!

Checked out the hotel and drove to Blois. It was another difficult drive, on the distance and the conditions within the car. It was about a 4hrs drive with about 2-3stops and we had lunch at one of the Shell station that served cooked food (as we didn’t have much of it for quite a while already). After that all hell broke loose as baby K cried a whole 1hr before finally snoozing off on mommy’s shoulder. It was difficult but there was nothing much that we could do.

Our lunch at the service station.
Our lunch at the service station.

Some of the petrol stations required payment before pumping and it was challenging to gauge how much to pump as it wasn’t really my own car. It was after a while that I got the hang of it. I also noticed that there was the petrol SP95-E10 which was a blend that contained 10% ethanol. I wasn’t sure if my car could take it so I had to settled for the slightly more expensive Octane 98 petrol.

The tolls on the road were initially not so clear to me. I always tried to look for signs with cash, that was so that I could pay it with cash on hand. Then there were those with human in them. Thereafter I could only find those with the green arrows that I was pretty sure that had cash receiving machines. Most of the time the tolls could be settled by coins and I had them readily available in a small compartment. But then once in a while, when notes were required, the wallet needed to be available easily. Of course if you ran into one that only received credit card which I did on the first few days, I had to use it. Luckily there wasn’t too much difficulty as the card was accepted and the barrier lifted.

Many road works can change the lanes to single lanes or even using the opposite roads. These decreased the speed of travel but by not much.

Arriving in Blois, we checked in at the Holiday Inn, after trying to figure out where the parking was ( it was a small right turn into the back alley with a password protected barrier). The room was much more comfortable then previous. It was here we realized that our laptop was missing. We must have dropped it in the previous few hotels.

Bedroom.
Bedroom.
Bathroom.
Bathroom.

Left the hotel to visit the Chateau Chambord first because it was nearer. After 20mins of driving, we arrived and the Chateau was closed for visit. However, we were more fascinated by the exterior and had no issues taking photos of it. The 6pm sun provided excellent photo views and coupled with the clear blue skies, the photos were really nice. Spent some time walking around the Chanteau but not the gardens around as the compound was really huge. Left after paying carpark for 4euros per entry.

Mirror Chambord.
Mirror Chambord.
From the gardens.
From the gardens.
Zoomed in view.
Zoomed in view.

Drove a restaurant near our hotel, called the Le Shelby. Interesting designed about old retro stuff and American cars (therefore Shelby) but served France western cuisine. When we were there, we were the only customers around. Food was served quickly which was good as we had to finish before baby K got cranky. About 40Euros for 2 mains and 2 drinks. Carpark by the road side was free, and easy if space was available.

Inside the Shelby restaurant.
Inside the Shelby restaurant.
Pasta.
Pasta.
Chicken.
Chicken.

Milk shake.
Milk shake.
Shelby restaurant.
Shelby restaurant.

Back at the hotel, bathed baby K and all fell asleep from the exhaustion of the travel till date.