LOIRE VALLEY CHATEAU de LANGEAIS

Monday, April 27, 2009 Chateau de Langeais

We had a leisurely morning as we didn’t have far to travel to reach our first Chateau on today’s agenda; left the hotel about eight thirty and then the fun began. Remember, we were in a Formule One in an industrial area on the outskirts of Angers so the road out was somewhat of a gray area since we don’t have a detailed map.

We were trying to take the small roads so we bypassed the toll road and headed east. We kept following signs and suddenly we realized that we were headed north instead of east; the skies were full of clouds instead of sunshine! Bottom line, we made a large triangle and ended up traveling an extra fifty miles or so; but, what a wonderful serendipity experience in the French countryside! We finally managed to find a toll road that got us straightened out and moving in the correct direction.

We arrived at Chateau de Langeais about ten fifteen; an hour later than we’d planned to be there. It is located in the center of a small village and has a drawbridge entry. Its claim to fame is that this was the place that King Charles VIII was married to the fourteen year old Princess Anne de Bretagne. Each of the rooms was beautifully staged with fresh floral arrangements, many tapestries, many pieces of period furniture and mannequins in the room with the marriage scene recreated. Mary enjoyed touring at her own pace with a descriptive card in English in every room as we entered. Not a huge Chateau but very charming and easy to tour in an hour.