Bonjour, ya'll

Sorry about my previous post- the pictures are all over the place. I still don't really know how to work this thing.

Last night after dinner I went out with most of the group to a really cool bar district. All of the buildings were very Renaissance, which I loved. I had the best beer of my life there, but I can't remember the name, because it was German. Or Dutch. Probably German.

Today we went to the town of Amboise and went to the De Vinci museum. It was his house, with some of the original furniture. The basement was full of his sketches (not originals, sadly) and actual models of the sketches. Very cool. Next we went down the street to the chateau, which was amazing. It overlooks the entire town, and the Loire river. It was a pretty good work out, too, because you had travel up steep ramps and staircase after staircase to get around the chateau.

We had a picnic by our bus, food provided by Robbie the bus driver. Then we headed off to MontLouis for wine tasting. (!!!!!!!) We ended up only trying 2 different wines, but the 2nd one I tried was fantastic. It was very fruity, not too dry, and was from 2005, I think. I wanted to get a bottle, but then I realized that I didn't want to lug it around for the next month. (Or drink it alone tonight. Hi mom and dad!)

Dinner was at the same restaurant tonight. The meal started with a smoked salmon dish that had been mixed with a variety of spices, and a creamy sauce on the side. Next was duck, and I have no idea what to call dessert. (Besides delicious, that is.) I think it was ice cream with a variety of crushed nuts and a cream cheese sauce. I don't know, I'm still working on perfecting my palette. We have to get up early tomorrow to see approximately 8,712,636 chateaux, so I don't think I'll go to the bars tonight. Plus we have a quiz tomorrow and a short paper due Friday.

Katie and I after wine tasting- superbe!

Me and Liz at Chateau d'Amboise

Artsy fartsy flags and such

De Vinci's garden

De Vinci's quaint house. And by that I mean manor.