On the road (3) A (hopefully) sunny September road trip to Spain COMPLETED - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Love the update so far Cheryl! The Chateaux is beautiful, can't wait to see your pictures. As for the traffic around Paris- I am sad to say that it looks just like the traffic here in Atlanta,Ga USA. They don't like to use their indicators here either. We try to avoid going into downtown as much as possible, but I think it is more stressful for me than for my DH. At least it appears that way. Glad you got through it unscathed. Looking forward to more.
Yep, I was thinking the same thing! Actually, that looked like a GOOD day on the Capital Beltway here in the DC area!
Love the pictures thus far - can't wait to see the gardens.
What a gorgeous little town. I'm glad you made it before the (likely) huge rush hour of traffic started!!! The cows are so cute - all white! I don't think I've seen that ... maybe ever. Cool!
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What a pain the traffic was so bad - like the other posters it's normal for me. I was explaining to Evan just this morning about why we use our blinkers when driving as he was very quick to point out the truck in front of us that did use it. After about a million "whys" I think he got it.
Great update! I don't think turn signals have been invented in Louisiana yet, so certainly know about driving in those conditions--it's no fun! The pictures of the town are wonderful.
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I think one thing I should point out about the traffic we experienced about Paris is that this was a Saturday late morning/lunchtime, it wasn't rush hour. : We've experienced a lot of cities in rush hour (we thought rush hour in DC was non-existent actually, compared to London ), but we've never seen traffic like this on a weekend in any major city, having driven into the centre of LA on a Saturday and had a quiet journey...
Saturday 4 September – part three: chateaux gardens at their best
I had already decided that we’d just see the gardens here, as I knew that they were meant to be pretty spectacular, so we paid our €6 ($7.80) admission and headed inside. The view that greets you when you walk in is of the chateau and its outbuildings.
Some history of this place: it was completed in 1536 and, as such, it was one of the last grand chateaux to be built in the Loire Valley. It was built by Jean le Breton, who was the finance minister under Francois I. He was also responsible for directing the construction of Chambord, which we had visited in June. The gardens you see today were created in the 19th century.
The fish were desperate to be fed! Our first glimpse of the gardens beyond
The real star attraction of the estate, the gardens, are just around the corner. They’re all laid out into different sections. We walked through the vegetable garden, but this is unlike any vegetable garden you’ve ever seen before. Although it is home to all sorts of vegetables, such as tomatoes, celery, cabbage and peppers, that’s not what catches your eye. What attracts your attention is the way the gardens are laid out with some beautifully manicured hedges and superb floral displays. I guess the fact that no-one’s actually allowed in the individual gardens (you can only walk around them) probably helps to maintain them.
As we walked through, we tried to set up the camera to get a photo of the two of us, as Mark had decided to leave the tripod in the car, but a very kind French couple offered to get a photo of us together in front of the chateau.
We headed next towards the ornamental garden. There’s only real place where you can overlook these garden, but that didn’t stop me from grabbing some shots from the covered walkway next to it. It’s actually made up of grapes and we tried a grape each, although they were a bit on the bitter side.
Showing off my trade secrets how I got some of those shots!
Next: love in its many forms – all made up of plants!
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We try to avoid going into downtown as much as possible, but I think it is more stressful for me than for my DH. At least it appears that way. 
Glad you got through it unscathed. Looking forward to more. 
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Pixie Dust
Claytrgtshooter (Minnie Lor's Hubbie)
Holly: 
PassPorter Guide Author
: We've experienced a lot of cities in rush hour (we thought rush hour in DC was non-existent actually, compared to London 
in its many forms – all made up of plants! 
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