Chenonceau and more
Sunday, I took the TGV to Tours to view the Chenonceau chateau in the Loire Valley region. I've wanted to visit Chenonceau ever since I saw the poster of it in my French class in high school. Well, it took about ten years but I finally went! (A - do you remember the poster?) The trip took a total of about 1.5 hrs (1 hr TGV, then another half hour to the chateau). All the chateau are spread pretty far apart and the best way to visit the region is really by a bus tour or car. If I revisit in the future, I'd go on the tour. The chateau was a lot smaller than I thought it would be but it was interesting. There's a lot of history linked to Catherine de Medici, her husband Henry IV and her family there. The audioguide was cool because the machine is an iPod: not only do you get the audio commentary but you see the video too. The Loire region reminds me a lot of Napa/Sonoma, except that in addition, there are historic castles. I don't know if the trip was worth the cost (the TGV was very expensive) but at least I got to visit a place I've been wanting to visit for a long time.
Today, I revisited the Marais area and finally found Mariage Freres. They are famous for their teas and have been in business since 1854. They have a selection of over 600 teas (from China, India, the Himalays, etc.). Everything was beautifully displayed but quite pricey!
On the subject of food, I also found Le Procope. It is one of the world's oldest continually operating restaurants (been in business since 1686) and is one of the first places to have introduced coffee to the Western world.
