bilboburgler

Train into Tours and then a car is a great way to go. Stay a night eat local food and wine. Sounds good to me. Why did you want to go to Paris again?

klondike

You have received sound advice. Easy driving, especially if you avoid Tours centre ville and you brush up on the rules of the road. Even autoroute driving is saner there.

The biggest rules to remember are: 1) left lane in a double freeway is normally for passing only; stay in the lane furthest right unless passing. 2) priorité à droite = yeild to those entering from your right when there are no obvious stop signs at crossroads. 3) most parking lots require you pay a fee (have coins) at a machine located somewhere on the premise to get a ticket that you then place on the dashboard of the car-- be sure to read the sign first if it is lunchtime as frequently parking is free from 12-2 (bless the French and their beloved lunch time!)

We seem to get a little turned around in the area around Chambord and end up on a "little adventure" through the forest even with good maps. If the same happens to you, not to worry. Eventually you get back on track, and you'll have seen some surprise sights along the way- like the great Chèvre fermier Pal mentions (we stopped, price of entry=buy some cheese--Yum!) amid the fruit orchards, which might be in bloom that time of year.

Dejais

Bilbo...We chose to go to Paris again as we felt were unable to see Versaille last time. We also want to do the D-Day tour and the Loire Valley. We are using Paris as our headquarters for ten days and doing three day trips. The rest of the time we will spend time in the museums that we had to fasttrack through on our first visit.

Parisnow...I will be (shhhh!)50 and Mom will be 69 when we take this trip. One of the reasons we are going is for my 50th birthday. Hubby said he would rather poke his eyes out with a stick than go back to Paris and see more "boring art and history". His ideal vacation involves sun, the beach, and drinks.

Mom is the perfect travel partner as our interests are the same and we both love to walk and immerse ourselves into the local culture.

We did a bike tour last time to Monet's Gardens in Giverny however Mom is not really supposed to ride a bicycle any longer due to degenerative bones and the possibility of falling and breaking something. If you happened to catch my trip report from the last time you will find out that she did indeed fall off the bike into some nettles. I swore before we went that she would not get hurt. So there is no way I am going to ask her to bike again. But thanks as it was a great suggestion!

gjneale

There is only one Chenonceau chateau - it is called the Chateau de Chenonceau. It is located in the village of Chenonceaux.

They're French - it makes sense to them.

From Wikipedia: Madame Louise Dupin . . . is said to be the one who changed the spelling of the Château (from Chenonceaux to Chenonceau) to please the villagers during the French Revolution. She dropped the "x" at the end of the Château's name to differentiate what was a symbol of royalty from the Republic. Although no official sources have been found to support this legend, the Château has been since referred to and accepted as Chenonceau.

FauxSteMarie

For a day trip from Paris to the Loire without the hassle of renting a car or paying too much to a tour company, I always recommend that people take the train to Blois and see that chateau. No need to go all the way to Tours.

If my memory serves me correctly, when you get off the train, it is a short walk to the chateau.

PalenQ

very short half-mile no more downhill stroll and Blois itself is a sweet regional town.