The Château de Villandry is a grand country house located in Villandry, in the département of Indre-et-Loire, France. It is especially known for its beautiful gardens.
Wikipedia Link
Second chateau visited. Very impressed with the gardens of flowers and vegetables. The gardens were great for taking those romantic couples pics. An interesting note was the exhibit for the Chinese influence in the 19th century.
The Château d'Azay-le-Rideau is located in the town of Azay-le-Rideau in the French département of Indre-et-Loire. Built between 1518 and 1527, this château is considered one of the foremost examples of early French renaissance architecture.
Wikipedia Link
For me, after seeing the insides of two chateaus, I thought the
third would be "just another chateau". I was wrong. The Azay had
one feature not present in the other two.....animated displays. In one
room there was a cabinet/desk which opened up and displayed all the drawers
and door to music. In another was a mock table setting with animated
trays and animated table settings. There was even a curtain which opened
and closed. Another animated display was a sort of puppet show all
contained in one device using gears and pulleys. This appeared to be
electrically powered (as were probably the other animated displays) but even
if hand powered the mechanics would have been cool.
We
concluded the tour with a salad lunch at the site outdoor restaurant. Nothing spectacular, but the
service was poor due to the inexperienced new staff.