Bonjour from France! (I wish)
In my second to last post from our summer Europe trip I’m sharing our time outside of Paris. I shared before that one of my childhood best friends was getting married in France and I was in the wedding, and the entire wedding party and attendees stayed at the Chateau de Chissay, located between Montrichard and Chenonceaux. The chateau was once a castle built under Charles the 7th for Pierre Bérard, chancellor of France, and both Charles the 7th and Louis the 11th stayed there. And it was a pretty breathtaking place!
The rooms were so unique and preserved, and there were historic pieces everywhere you turned. Located right outside of our room in the hallway was a prayer area adorned with saints and religious artifacts. When we got to the venue, my best friend and her husband threw a white party that served as a welcome party for everyone coming in for the festivities. It was a great way for everyone to meet and I definitely needed a little extra sleep to recover for the wedding the next day. ThThat night we all stood outside at the most breathtaking view of the stars. I have never seen the sky more beautiful in my life and it’s by far one of my favorite memories. You definitely don’t get that type of view living in Chicago.
The wedding was held at Chateau de Chenonceau located in Loire Valley… the most gorgeous wedding venue I have ever been to. It was built from 1514-1522 and is the second most visited chateau in France. The best part is that it was designed by and has only been owned by women. Yaaaas! The ceremony was on a boat that took us around the River Cher, and after that we headed to a private wine tasting and tour of the chateau (guess who spent all their time at the wine tasting?!). Once the wedding began we had the grounds all to ourselves, where we walked through the gardens and completed a labyrinth at 2AM. It was so much fun and I never danced more in my life!
After the wedding weekend we drove back to Paris which took a few hours (and too long figuring out how to work the stick shift) and we stopped in town to grab a quick bite. Ironically enough, the first restaurant we found happened to be an American-inspired BBQ place with images of famous Americans like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis all over the walls. It was hilarious that four Americans just happened to stumble upon this place in the middle of nowhere. But the burgers were actually really good.
x Jill
