June 3, 2014 - Hot-air Balloon Ride - Langeais - Villandry - Azay-le-Rideau - Day 34

Oh boy - up at 4 am and what an exciting day it turned out to be.

We took a quick shower, dressed and we left at 4:30 am for our pickup for the hot air balloon ride. 

THANK GOODNESS we went last night to find out where we were supposed to go as it was DARK, DARK, DARK and no one on the road.  We got to the pickup place at 5 am and Aurimas and his helper were there with the balloon on a trailer ready to go.  Off we went to Amboise which will be the launch site for the balloon about 7 am.  Aurimas spoke beautiful English - he and his helper (the pilot) are from Lithuania and started the company in 2011.  They are both pilots - today we were told the helper would be the pilot and Aurimas would be in the "chase car".  That changed when we got to the take-off site in Amboise - about an hour away. 

The intent was to fly along the Loire River over the chateaus - but the winds had a different idea . . . instead of flying east toward the rising sun along the Loire, the winds took us south east for a while and then back east.  We headed to Montrichard but ended up beyond that due to the winds and aborted landings.  We travelled 24 kilometers via air.  The chase car travelled 55 kilometers tracking us.

Aurimas told us that hot air balloons were invented by 2 Frenchmen about 238 years ago.  Never knew that.

The trailer with the basket and balloon in the blue bundle

Aurimas (left) and his helper intently watching the wind direction balloon prior to our flight

Setting up the balloon - basket on its side - balloon stretched out

Balloon stretched out in the field at the take off site

Tim holding up the side of the balloon so it would inflate from the large fan they started

And the balloon starts filling - so exciting!

Larry holding the side up so the fan can blow the air inside the balloon - almost filled at this point

Last stage of filling the balloon - it lifted up shortly after this

Aurimas was inside the balloon checking it out prior to flight

And the balloon lifted off.  A French couple is laying down inside the basket!

And we are all in the basket ready for lift off

The flames are put on strong and the basket lifts off of the ground

In flight over the Loire Valley fields - the Loire River in the background

Our expert pilot, Aurimas

View of the "chase car" as we leave the take off site

Up, up, and away in a hot air balloon - Aurimas, our pilot, in the back

A bit hazy - the Loire River at 6 am as seen from the balloon

Loire River and Amboise castle

Beautiful fields of color - lots of wheat, canola and hay ready to harvest

A monument that is a part of Amboise next to the Amboise Forest

A beautiful home nestled in the woods - the dogs at many of these places went crazy when they saw the balloon and we could hear lots of barking

A "chateau-like" structure - ends up this was "miniature world" and they have small re-creations of the Loire Valley chateaux.

Another beautiful farm - so scenic from the air

Our shadow on the fields below from the rising sun

Hey, there's Chambord!  Not really, it's at Minature-Land but it was cool

This was so exciting.  Aurimas would let the balloon drop down very near the treetops.  Tim and I both thought that we were going into the trees but at the last minute - up we went.

We had 3 aborted landings - the first one we came into a wheat field and brushed the top of the wheat but didn't land - Aurimas was saying "No - No - No!" and up we went.  Missed 2 other landings and then we found a good landing site but the field was overgrown and wet.  But what goes up must come down and we landed safely.

Safely back on the ground - starting to deflate the balloon

The balloon deflated - that was a workout - and then we had to stuff it back in the bag

All of that huge balloon in this little bag

Then the "celebration" - champagne, orange juice, coffee, goat cheese and bread, and chocolates.

Aurimas inducted us a ducs and duchesses - we received a certificate along with champagne, dirt on the forehead, and a whack on the butt!!!!  This was fun

We dropped the 3 French friends back at their car and then drove an hour back to the balloon company headquarters.  Then Tim and I drove to Les Bournais, cleaned up, and I took a short nap.  About noon we headed to Langeais, about 30 minutes from our B&B.  This is where Emilie and Guillaume live.  Beautiful village.  I remembered that I have been here once before but enjoyed the visit to the village and the chateau.  We stopped in a boulangerie and bought sandwiches and had a picnic in the sprinkles while sitting in front of the Langeais church.

Flowers at Langeais

 

The Castle at Langeais - some construction underway on one of the towers

The church in Langeais

From the castle looking out at the ramparts that had mostly been destroyed

And here we are again - posing in costume!  This time Tim was a "princess"

And I was the king (I think that's what I was!)

We were fascinated with the old outfits and the cod-pieces used by the mean - they are called "braguettes" - we wondered if this was the origin of "brag" relative to their manhood!

The castle at Langeais as seen from the top of the ramparts

Beautiful castle of Langeais

Castle at Langeais and gardens

Then we left and headed to Villandry, one of our favorites because of the gardens.  Not too many people there and we were lucky that the rains stopped.  We started with the chateau tour and then roamed through all of the gardens for the afternoon.  LOVED IT!  Villandry was restored in 1906 by Mr. Carvallo, a Spanish man, and his American wife.  They did a magnificent job.

The Chateau of Villandry

The vegetable gardens as seen from inside the chateau

They had fresh cut or potted flowers throughout the chateau

One of the rooms inside the chateau

The formal gardens as seen from inside the chateau

More of the symmetrical gardens as seen from the chateau

Playing in the children's garden!

Tim headed into the maze - this was the easiest maze we have ever tried

View from the stand in the middle of the maze

One of the rose gardens - the pictures don't do these gardens justice

Rose garden

Tim has always loved the sculptured gardens - these are made into various shapes - beautiful

Fountains and sculptured gardens

A waterway and waterfall leading to the moat in the front of the chateau

The gardens nearest the chateau - stunning!

The geometric shapes in another garden as seen from a promontory point

Colorful, geometric, stunning!

Vegetable gardens and the chateau

More of the same - I got carried away with pictures today but love these memories!

Climbing roses in full bloom

Fountains - large and small

Lots of lettuces and cabbages

Colorful and all laid out symmetrically

We sat in the garden at the end to just take it all in - what a fabulous visit to Villandry

A chart showing the layout of the vegetable gardens

Villandry and its moat from the front - gardens are behind and to the right

And finally at Villandry a panoramic picture of this magnificent chateau and its gardens

Then we decided to ride to Azay-le-Rideau.  The chateau there is in a state of disrepair but we wanted to take a peek.  We didn't go in but walked around the city and enjoyed it.

Chateau Azay-le-Rideau

The town of Azay-le-Rideau

The cathedral in Azay-le-Rideau

 

We headed back to Les Bournais to rest for our table d'hote tonight with Emilie and Guillaume and Emilie's parents, Florence and Philippe, who are our hosts  What a fun time we had with the group.  A lively evening - we didn't leave until midnight! 

There was a very large group at the table d'hote - couple from NJ next to Tim - couple from Holland, Florence and Philippe at the end of the table.  On the other side (not shown), two couples from Germany, Emilie, Guillaume and Jeanne, and me - We had a BLAST!

Guillaume, Emilie, and Jeanne - the new baby girl was sleeping

 

This was definitely a HIGHLIGHT DAY for us - the hot air balloon ride experience, Langeais, Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau and the table d'hote.  So much fun.  Off to bed.