Castles and Cooking

The idea of travelling 9 out of the next 10 weekends was a little daunting, but considering I have only 13 weeks left and about 27 different cities I want to see, being busy is my main goal. I have made it through one of these weekends, and although getting up for class on Monday was a little rough, it is something I am going to have to get used to. As a program this past weekend all of us Illini toured the Loire Valley, visiting three chateaus and one adorable city in all. We reported to our coach bus at 7:45 this past Saturday so as to get to Chateau Blois by about 10. Although this was my least favorite castle of the weekend, it was a good "starter" castle - wouldn't want to visit the best first anyways. This castle was built at three different times, meaning that there are three different and distinct styles of this castle (Gothique, Renaissance, and Classicisme). The most memorable aspect of this castle though was definitely the massive and ornate staircase on the outside of the building. If I heard Dr. Costello correctly (considering it was in french), it was so that common folk could see the royals walking around and such. This wasn't your stereotypical princess castle, but it was still a great use of a Saturday morning.

After about 2 hours of exploring, we hopped back on the bus and headed to Chateau Amboise. We followed the river, La Loire, and saw other castles from the bus along the way, and eventually arrived at our next castle. By this time, the sun was coming out, and it was turning into a gorgeous day. Chateau Amboise is located in the center of a thriving city, and as we wound our way towards the castle, along with it already being a cute quaint French town, there was confetti covering the cobblestone streets. We don't know what we missed, but it just made the entire experience that much more memorable. We ate lunch in the city center, and then made our way to the chateau. Out of the three castles this weekend, this was my second favorite castle. It was a bit smaller than Chateau Blois, but much more beautifully maintained - the lawns were super green, the beds were planted, and it just had a happier feel to it than Chateau Blois. This is where Leonardo Da Vinci is buried, so we started our tour by seeing his grave (which is in a mini church) and then onto the castle. Chateau Amboise had a lot of tapestries on the walls, and intricate wood work. At the end of the tour, we ended up on the top of one of the towers with a great view of La Loire, the gardens, and the surrounding town.

We spent the night in Tours, a very "college" town for French standards. Once we were done with all of the tours for the day a bunch of us grabbed a beer in this large plaza that was completely buzzing with people our age. It was completely packed and alive, complete with bachelor and bachelorette parties. The following morning we departed Tours to visit Chateau Chenonceau. This was everyone's favorite castle of the weekend by far, and is perhaps the most well known when people think of the Loire Valley. Even though it was not originally built as a castle for a king (unlike the two before) it was just as gorgeous, elaborate, and orante. The most interesting aspect of it is that it is built directly above the river connecting the two sides (this ended up playing a vital role for the survival of several people during WWII). The entire grounds were very peaceful, and with the fog coming off of the water it was almost eerie. Once inside, compared to the other chateaus, this one was truly made to look like it was lived in, including lit fireplaces, pots and pans set out in the kitchen, and flowers everywhere (granted it was Palm Sunday). Along with several gardens on the property, there was also a labrynth and a donkey farm. After some more exploring, we had a group lunch, consisting of about five courses, and followed by a three hour bus ride back home.

 To cap off a great weekend, I went to a cooking class with six other people in my program. Going into it, we had no idea what we were going to make, but it ended up being fantastic. In all, we prepared an avocado, kiwi and sun dried tomato salad covered in lemon juice, honey, and salt and peper, followed by a leek, bacon, and gruyere cheese quiche, and finally chocolate mousse. I was allowed to measure the sugar, cut the leeks, and butter the quiche pan, and managed to screw none of it up. The entire thing was in french, and the woman taught us in her own apartment. Thankfully she gave us copies of the recipes in English so hopefully I will be able to recreate this masterpiece for my family when I get back to the states.

Heading to Grenoble this weekend, and Barcelona the first weekend in April - time is truly flying.

S/O to my sister, KL - Happy 26th Birthday!! So sad I can't be there to celebrate, but I can't wait to see you in 5 short weeks :)