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Sunday, July 27, 2008
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Authentic, Affordable Castle in France
Vacation Links
An excellent vacation begins with a Real Castle.
Here's a recap of our third trip to an affordable, amazingly fantastical castle in the beautiful Loire Valley in France.
Chateau du Pin is the real deal. Parts of the castle are more than nine hundred years old (around the time when the magnetic compass was invented if you're a history buff) and there are surprises everywhere you look: gargoyles, hidden towers, dark dungeons/wine cellars, lush gardens, secret book case passages, massive fantastical creaking doors, an old overgrown moat, dusty lintels, a battered front gate, cobwebs and the occasional (friendly) chameleon. Best of all there are no crowds, no lines and no velvet ropes. It's a wide-open mythical paradise and guests are free to explore and let their imaginations run wild.
The cost is about € 2,000/$3,000 per week -- not just for a room -- for a whole wing of the castle! If that's still out of your budget range, there's more than enough room to split the price with another family.
The pictures may look amazing, however authentic chateau living definitely isn't for everyone. If you depend on round the clock attention and brigades of butlers and maids, then you've come to the wrong castle; when it comes to personalized service, all you'll find here is a reclusive master gardener, and if you're lucky, a general manager (assuming she isn't off oil painting or picking grapes in the vineyard). At Chateau du Pin, guests are pretty much on their own -- and that's what makes it great.
The one big exception is it's possible to arrange an excellent cook to set the dining room table and prepare exquisite dinners each night. The cook cleaned the pots and we cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher.
Chateau du Pin is the real deal. Parts of the castle are more than nine hundred years old (around the time when the magnetic compass was invented if you're a history buff) and there are surprises everywhere you look: gargoyles, hidden towers, dark dungeons/wine cellars, lush gardens, secret book case passages, massive fantastical creaking doors, an old overgrown moat, dusty lintels, a battered front gate, cobwebs and the occasional (friendly) chameleon. Best of all there are no crowds, no lines and no velvet ropes. It's a wide-open mythical paradise and guests are free to explore and let their imaginations run wild.
The cost is about € 2,000/$3,000 per week -- not just for a room -- for a whole wing of the castle! If that's still out of your budget range, there's more than enough room to split the price with another family.
The pictures may look amazing, however authentic chateau living definitely isn't for everyone. If you depend on round the clock attention and brigades of butlers and maids, then you've come to the wrong castle; when it comes to personalized service, all you'll find here is a reclusive master gardener, and if you're lucky, a general manager (assuming she isn't off oil painting or picking grapes in the vineyard). At Chateau du Pin, guests are pretty much on their own -- and that's what makes it great.
The one big exception is it's possible to arrange an excellent cook to set the dining room table and prepare exquisite dinners each night. The cook cleaned the pots and we cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher.
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2008
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July
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- Sampling Éclairs
- Pure magic (very shallow)
- Not exactly a high traffic area...
- Secret door in the bookcase!!
- Road traffic...
- Castle at night
- Chateau du Pin Barley Field
- Barley fields
- Amazing clouds
- Plumbing. Just enough to get by!
- Clouds
- Amazing biking. Very few cars.
- Square des Anciens Combattants
- Amazing gardens in local village
- Bike riding. View of the castle.
- No label on this bottle
- Not your average cook!
- Excellent food.
- Home made Floating Island desert
- "Un limonade, s’il vous plaît."
- Lot's of biking.
- Here's the barge we went on.
- Kayaking and sculpting on the Loire
- Castle games
- Roman Aquaduct
- Riding to Ile de Chalonnes
- White cat
- Cathedral Poplars
- Excellent biking
- Blue Beard's Castle
- New shoes!
- Stroll through the garden...
- Bell Tower
- Maid service. (not exactly)
- garden mystery
- Home made desert!
- Bwah ha ha ha!!
- What's wrong with this picture?
- Chateau du Pin vinyards
- Chateau's gardens are quite famous
- Front gate of the castle...
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July
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