I had a fun weekend antiquing in Weatherford, TX with my best girl friends. One of them grew up in Weatherford and I have heard her talk about this lovely hometown of hers so often that subconsciously it became one of my must-go-to destinations in this life-time. And I am GLAD I went. Leaving Arnav was pretty hard. Believe it or not in about eight months this the longest I have been without him. I must say Daddy dearest took great care of him and neither of them missed me. :)
So my girls and I ate chicken salad sandwiches, stuffed our faces with chocolate interpretations (merengue, german, and BROWNIE!), topped it all with ice-cream, and then contemplated getting snicker doodles. Once thoroughly full we decided to damage our wallets as best as girls could and you are about to see what yours truly bought!
I am SOOOO EXCITED about my retro chairs. I have been searching for the perfect individual seating for my living room for the past 4 years. Yes. 4 Years. Yes that is odd and compulsive. Obsessive. All of that. But it's a prized possession a gal/wife/now mom DESERVES to have for umm...let's say MAY 8TH!! :)
These Ranch Oak Vintage chairs were originally $190 a piece and I bargained these beauties to $100 a piece.
On Day 5 we visited three palaces, Cheverney, Chombord, and Blois. We also got to taste wine and have lunch with the locals at their restaurant and wine tasting venue. The different styles of cheese and the green salad were purely refreshing. The accompanying bread was fantastic! The palaces burst with stories of love, deception, greed, political regality, ostentation, and above all with details of the everyday life of 14th-17th dwellers.
The young King Francis I was 25 yrs old in 1519 when he initiated the huge enterprise of building the Chateau of Chambord. I think he is my favorite French King and it probably has a lot to do with the fact that he was quite tall for a french man and did I mention that he was a favorite of the ladies.
After he reconquered the Italian province of Milan, this keen young king and huntsman built this castle originally intended as hunting lodge. He reigned for 32 years and spent only 72 days at Chambord!
View from the hollow central column created by double spiral staircase that wind independently around linking all of the three chateau's floors. This kind of innovative layout and ingeniousness of the central staircase suggests that Leonardo da Vinci may have helped Francis I inspire this project.
Wood Engraved 'F' for Francis I
Beautiful antique door knob
Stone Stove
The king used to come through these doors on his horse and directly go up the center spiraling staircase to his room riding his horse sometimes
View of the garden
One of the royal wings
Horse-drawn carriages built for the Comte de Chombord in 1871
And now to the wine-tasting and lunch. The tour we took allowed us to lunch in a family domain with organic wines.
This was beautiful - a man pressing grapes in a wine glass
The electronic pipes spouted the wine of your choice. We had to taste it and then note down it's intensity in aroma, flavor, where we thought it could be from, what kind of grape, how long it's been aged - needless to say I miserably failed.
Akhil the wine connoisseur he is, ehem ehem, royally takes a sip and diligently scribbles notes that he refuses to share with me!
The best salad I have had to this day at La grande Chancelier owned by small towners
Yep he is ready!
Flowers flowers flowers everywhere!
Chateau Cheverny This Chateau originally was lost to the crown due to state fraud and was handed from King Henry II to his mistress Diane de Politiers who rather preferred the Chateau de Chenonceau. Hence the Chateau saw many ownerships ever since. After being passed down, sold, bought again, now the rightful owners are descendants of the aristocrats and they have liberally opened it up for the public's view.
Akhil and I love clocks and have never seen anything like this
This is a over 400 year old tree in the gardens of Cheverny
You are thinking 'What on earth?!' Well the family owns 70 hunting dogs who are taken out for hunts biweekly. They are half English foxhound and half French Poitou — are bred to have big feet and bigger stamina.Their feeding time is a major tourist attraction and while we didn't get to view the feeding directly, I did find a cool video from Derek on Motionbox that you can view below. This is a really cool video! I wish I had caught this moment myself. And I couldn't help but marvel at the clean spotless floor left behind. You'll see what I am talking about once you view the video.
Aww - just don't get near him during his feeding time.
The last of chateaus for today - Blois! Prounounced 'blwa' Can you believe that these decorative gargoyles were actually water drainage spouts.
Another gargoyle drainage spout.
Blois has an ancient fortress that slowly transformed into a royal castle after being acquired by different kings. There are three wings to this castle, one by Louix XII, another by Francis I and another by Gaston d'Orleans.
Inscriptions of Queen Catherine de Medici and King Henry II as gold wall paper
King Henry II was known to have mistresses and his favorite 'love' was Diane de Poitiers. Isn't it interesting how when the King Henry II's 'H' combines with Queen Catherine de Medici's 'C' it forms into a a double 'D' representing Diane de Poitiers whom the King adored for the rest of his life.
Day 4 was the last day we were going to spend at Palace Trianon. We wanted to take it easy on this day. Later in the evening we were to catch a train from Paris to the town of Tour.
The day started with just bidding our goodbye to this lovely hotel
A random embossing emerging from a concrete wall. There were no signs of any chocolate stores nearby. Still so beautiful.
Fresh blue cheese salad
Salmon pizza for lunch?
Salmon Pizza for lunch!
Entrance to Palace of Versailles. The unbelievably gorgeous château of Louis XIV.
This royal palace stated the absolute monarchy of Louis XIV
This is where the King and his subjects prayed. To prevent the nobles from establishing regional power, the King introduced a strict court rule of etiquette with elaborate ceremonies and exacted procedures. This included morning prayers at this church inside the palace of Versailles to assert personal and absolute rule. Part of these rituals were his highness's 'rising in the morning' where the king was awakened by offerings of holy water and a thorough medical check-up.
I found his shoes and the heels fascinating.
Beautiful flooring
Exquisite and grandeur doorways
Marble floors
Ceiling
Hall of Mirrors - one of the most famous rooms in the world
Room-divider
Louis XIV's bedroom
The queen had a bed chamber too that I couldn't photograph properly. Here's a really eerie detail. The queen had to give birth publicly in her chamber to prove the legitimacy of the heir!
Hercules Drawing Room (18th century ballroom)
Restorations constantly happen (See far behind Akhil)
Garden
Château de Versailles gardens
Depiction of hunting dog. The Château was originally built as a hunting lodge. The extensions and embellishments were additions to the palace years later when Louis XIV wanted to escape the revolutions against the monarchy without appearing to have given power.
Beautiful statues like this are aligned on both sides of the garden as seen in the next image.
This is a stunning view in person
Yes. That boy is sleeping at Château de Versailles. No words. :)
End of Versailles Palace
Love this sign!
Yummy chocolate mousse! And ofcourse HOT CHOCOLATE!!! MY FAV!
