I think that sign says "Chateau For Sale By Owner"
We enjoyed our stay in the Loire Valley so much, that we though we just might find a Chateau and settle down. Sonja, the hostess at our B&B told us that the chateau just out our window was a private residence. We thought we could reside privately quite happily there, but apparently that chateau was not for sale. Sonja is a travel agent, er..., uh..., I mean real estate agent, so she gave us some addresses of three local chateaus that we might want to check out... just like House Hunters.
But first, on our way out of Seuilly, we drove through the medieval city of Chinon. (Actually, we drove through it several times because of the roundabout directions thing that I described in my last post. But one of our wrong turns in Chinon brought us right to the monument dedicated to Joan of Arc, the girl who helped unite the people of France.
It was here in Chinon, on the hill-top fortress, where the obscure farm girl Joan, following the direction of heavenly voices, presented herself to King Charles VII and became the Maid of Lorraine, donning battle armor and leading the men into battle.
We made our way though the countryside to the small town of Azay-le-Rideau.
What a pretty little town!
This charming little street curved around and led right to the gates of our first stop, the Chateau Azay-le-Rideau. 
It is an nice quiet neighborhood in a gated community. And at the end of a cul-de-sac too!
No "Chateau For Sale" sign on the front lawn, but Dad checks out the place anyway.
In real estate, first impressions are lasting impressions, and this place certainly had great first impressions.
A nice wide driveway (over a moat even!)
That would be my craft room, I think. I bet it gets good light.
The "M" on the front door just wouldn't do, but we could probably sand it off, right? Carve in a "V".
The interior wasn't much too see. The Chateau currently houses a museum exhibit about Cupid & Psyche (kind of a snore), so it is unfurnished, and it would take a lot of garage saleing to fill this place. That might be fun.
Apparently, the real beauty of this property is on the outside, so we go take a look at the backyard.
Hmmm. The moat may be a problem. Luke doesn't swim yet. Do you think we could stretch a pool net over it? Still, the boys would have a lot of fun with that.
It looks pretty green. We'd need to hire a good pool guy.
Azay-le-Rideau is pre-owned and had been through an extensive re-model. It was once an old fortress. It was bought by the King's secretary in 1510 and rebuilt into his sumptuous residence. He was later accused of corruption and when he fled for fear of the king, the king seized the chateau and gave it to his friend. 
The Chateau Azay-le-Rideau with it's feminine, early Renaissance style, is considered the most Romantic Chateau of the Loire Valley. I like that!
Dennis stops to calculate the mortgage payments on such a place - a bit more that what we are paying now, but if we pinch our pennies we might be able to pull it off.
The kids really would love this!
There were several out-buildings on the property. They are kind of puny, but we might find some use for them.
There are also some stables on the property. No horses for me, thanks...
but the Suburban will fit nicely in there, along with all of our food storage, camping equipment, and my Christmas decorations - a real selling point!
The tree lined avenue leading up the the front gate make a stunning entrance for all of our regal guests (and will impress the home teachers.) I wonder if that cat comes with the place?
But I dunno, the neighbors look a bit shady.
Perhaps I could be just as happy in a little place like this with blue shutters and flower boxes.Naw!
I love the hanging flowers on the roadside!
We hit the road to visit our next Chateau. Again, more French countryside beauty.
Chateau #2 was the Chateau Langeais. Don't they say you should buy the oldest house in the nicest neighborhood? 
Well, it is a nice enough neighborhood.
I wonder what the neighbors are like?
It appears that this place is much older than the last Chateau, (built in the 1400s) , and is a bit less... well... charming.
It it not quite as inviting as the last Chateau either.
Then again, the drawbridge would be awfully convienient to keeping away JWs, door to door salesmen, and uninvited guests when our house is a big mess. And it would keep Luke from running in the street. (We might find it handy in coming years when the hoards of teen-age girls start coming around, huh?)
Now THAT is a front door!
And if we can't hear the door knocker pounding down the long stone corridors...
What do you think? Is this us?
The Chateau Langeais is built on a hill overlooking the Loire River, and has great views (something the last Chateau didn't have.)
I'm not so sure about the neighbors though.
This chateau comes fully furnished (I have no pictures), but they are original medieval style furnishings, and well, a bit dated for my taste. I prefer my furnishing to be less than 500 years old. Wall tapestries are SO 15th century!
A great place for hide and seek, I think.
In the backyard is the remains of the oldest dungeon in Europe. Talk about a conversation piece!
Inside, the ramparts have been rebuilt making it just about the funnest playground structure anywhere.
Put a trampoline in there and the boys would stay out there (and out of my hair) for hours playing dungeon games, shooting flaming arrows at each other, tying each other up, and torturing each other (just like they do at our house already).Every household with six boys needs a dungeon. Seriously!
And Dennis would like a basketball court right here in the courtyard (Duh! Why else would they call it a court-yard?)
The moat is dry, which is a good thing for now. We can fill it again, and get some alligators and such, after Luke has learned to swim.
Frankly, I liked the first place much better. It was much newer, and much more inviting, and frankly more... feminine.
But Dennis thinks this place is more well suited to our family, and that the boys would have much more fun here. But it is just so... masculine.
I think we need to see something else.
3 comments:
Don't be an impulse buyer. Hold on, you're about to see something much more suitable. It comes fully furnished, and even has it's own, church (you won't be late for Sacrement Mtg ever again).
Wow that was really beautiful! OK I'll gladly take one of those for a summer home but aren't there any people living in those towns? It would get a bit lonely with no one else there. Oh, a series of door pictures would be cool!
Can you imagine? It boggles my mind that A)there could actually be a price tag for something like that and B)someone in the world somewhere has enough money to buy it and C)that could SERIOUSLY be somebody's HOME?!? Who gets a life like that and what would that be like!?
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