Loire Valley Adventure Part 1

Saturday morning, 5:15 wake up time, and off to Val de Loire. Our train from Strasbourg got into Paris Gare Est at 9:04, then we had to get to Gare Austerlitz for our 10:48 train. So we got metro tickets and rode to Austerlitz. Once there, we tried to find our train on the listings...but it wasn't there. My dad found an info desk to ask about it, only to discover that it was cancelled...awesome! Luckily, there was another train leaving an hour after our original scheduled one. So we hopped on that one. Huge misadventure averted.
We got into Amboise around 2:00ish (14:00) and walked from the train station to our hotel. Unfortunately...our hotel wasn't open until 3:00 (15:00). How this makes sense...I have no idea. But anyways, we were left with our suitcases. Luckily, they were small carry-on sized ones. So we found our way to Chàteau d'Amboise, figuring they would have a luggage check. The castle is conveniently located 5 minutes walking distance from our unopen hotel.
We got tickets and left our luggage at the front desk (including our coats), one misadventure averted...only to create another one. After you leave the ticket office, you walk back outside to get into the castle. Just as we had been entering the ticket office, it had started to rain. So now, we had to go quickly into the castle entrance to avoid getting cold and wet. Once inside, a nice surprise was waiting. There was a private (english) tour going on. So we followed after them and learned more than we would have about the castle.
Amboise doesn't have many rooms open, and the ones that are aren't as exciting, as say, Versailles, but it was still interesting. After going through the castle, people generally take time to walk around the gardens and grounds...seeing as it was raining and cold with us not having coats, we decided to make our tour of the grounds quick. Especially once I discovered that my umbrella enjoys turning inside out when the tiniest of breezes blows at it.

We went into the small chapel, where Leonardo Da Vinci is buried. Then we visited the gift shop, and finally deciding to head to our hotel. We collected our coats and luggage and checked into our hotel. We asked the guy at the front desk how to get to Chenonceau the next day, and he told us there was a bus, but he didn't know what one; so he suggested we go to the Office du Tourism. This we did, only to discover that there is no bus, or train (like I had thought) from Amboise to Chenonceau. Terrific! The woman at the tourism office told us the best way (unless you have bicycles and time) to get there is to take a taxi. Yay for our simple trip suddenly becoming very expensive!
After there, my mom wanted to find a wine tasting room. So we wandered down the road for a bit and found a good place. They tried Chinon 2004, 2005, 2006, Bourgeuil 2004, 2009, 1989, and Montlouis 2009. They bought a Chinon 2004 and Montlouis 2009. After this, we wandered through the little streets lined with cute shops. Then we found a good place for dinner.
We each got a Galette. Mine was with 4 cheeses, and delicious. The place we ate was teeny-tiny with probably only about 12 tables and one young kid serving all of them. It was really nice and cozy, and then at 8:00 (20:00) the owner (we think that's who he was) started playing the piano. He was a funny old guy. He would stop in between songs and drink some wine, or meander through the restaurant and talk to the customers. He came over and talked to us for a bit. My dad and him got to talking about jazz in America, and he said he'd play an Armstrong song that he could sing and play. He winked at my mom and said it was for her. After he finished playing, he came back over and shook my dad's hand and kissed my mom's hand. When he went back, she said all flustered, "He kissed me!" I just rolled my eyes...