The Loire #2

Did I mention that my lady likes princesses and dresses? I'm not sure sometimes who this little one belongs to, but I guess she's mine! She's super sweet and I'm going to keep her, but where did she come from? :)We promised to return to this store in Chinon when Elise is six so that we can buy her a dress. She's 3 and a half right now and CAN'T WAIT!

So, we returned to the Loire but did I also mention that we caught the last stage of The Tour? It was awesome! Lance totally saw me and winked! I wish he would focus more on riding when I come watch him (he pulled the same thing back at in '08 at the Tour of California) but I guess he just can't get over me....

Anyways, the experience was awesome! From the crazy French lady trying to sneak up on us for a front row seat after we had been waiting for FOUR hours to the awesome 8 loop view of the riders, it was pretty fabulous to witness and see live! We loved it! It was a great final to our awesome Euro Sport Summer: Rugby in Paris, World Cup in Amsterdam, Tour de France! We're super cool!

But back to the Loire and Bretagne. The second trip to the Loire was great fun and we were able to explore more castles and gardens. The gardens of course were far more beautiful in the summer than winter. Flowers, roses, herbs, and vegetables everywhere and the ladies had a blast running through them, especially the Jardin de Villandry . We had great weather and the whole trip was just perfect.






This time around we were able to visit the Sleeping Beauty Chateau (Chateau d'Usse) and Breze Chateau. Elise was in heaven in Sleeping Bleauty's house and was able to explore the story of the beautiful princess. Breze was really cool because it has an incredible underground fortress to explore as well as a fabulous winery. It was fun for all ages!

After Loire #2 we were off to the west to Bretagne. We stayed on a beautiful little patch of land stretching out the southern coast of Bretagne in a city called Quiberon. Our fancy hostel accommodations were great and we had fun exploring the beach town and attempting to swim in the freezing Atlantic Ocean. The most awesome part of our stay was the restaurant that we ate ate for two of our three dinners. Now what amazing French Bretagne food brought us back for two out of our three meals you may be asking? Well, it wasn't the fabulous food, it was the fabulous playground on the terrace that kept bringing us back. The ladies played all night while we quietly ate our dinner. It was so amazing and free babysitting! Why haven't more people picked up on this besides McDonalds? :)

Our stay in Bretagne was totally mellow and great vacationing. We woke up late, hung out on the beach, and B and I took turns exploring the coast in the afternoons. We appreciated the down time, the great beaches, (even in the cold drizzles), and the ladies sleeping until 10:00 one morning. An awesome vacation!