Days One and Two: Charles Perrault and Castles!

We have begun our fairy tale journey! After a long flight with little sleep we picked up our rental car and headed out in search of adventure. Of course getting out of the airport parking lot is important... We eventually figured out the exit and headed to our first stop. Monet's garden in Giverny was the location. Both of us have loved Monet's art for a long time and needed to see his inspiration. We were amazed! We decided that the garden was definitely a setting where a fairy tale could happen. And we wouldn't mind being two princesses that lived there.
From there we went to Chateau de Bretuil. This chateau is important to the history of fairy tales because it is the place where Charles Perrault wrote many of his fairy tales. The chateau was owned by one of his friends. The chateau had several fairy tales represented. We found lots of puss and boots figures and some new fairy tales we had not heard of. We loved seeing the little house in a small forest for little red riding hood.
From there we headed on another adventure- find our hotel! We were both very tired and ready to settle in. We were reminded to not lean to much on technology and by the grace of God we found our hotel. We were very lost and struggling to understand French road signs. Somehow we found ourselves on the right road.
The next day we were ready to get started but we needed s few French pastries to help us out. Chocolate filled croissants, yes please! After filling up we headed south to find another chateau that inspired Charles Perrault. The Chateau D'Usse is located in a small village about three hours from Paris. The drive there was beautiful. It was filled with amazing forests and small villages. The chateau has a whole tower dedicated to portraying the story of Sleeping Beauty. It was the perfect setting for Sleeping Beauty. We were also able to go exploring around the castle and see the attic as well as the basement. It was neat to see the attic filled with treasures. After that we enjoyed eating lunch from a small cafe next to the castle. After a bit of driving we found our next hotel. It was located outside of a village right next to a vineyard. Time to rest!
We have had some trouble loading pictures on the blog. Hopefully some of them will show up below. They should be in order of our visit thus far. Now on to our next location!