This morning we picked up our Peugeot 2008 to start our road trip. We set the GPS to an English woman's voice and named her Bessy. She has absolutely no guts, her GPS has no POI's in it and she constantly gives us bad directions. This makes it much more interesting driving in foreign lands with no English signage on the wrong side of the car AND road.

First stop, Amboise. This quaint little village is in the heart of French chateau country. We stopped to see Chambord along the way, a magnificent chateau built by Francois the 1st 400 years ago.

Our hotel in Ambois was a boutique hotel and Alex had an immediate crush on the French concierge who made it his business to make our stay as enjoyable as possible.

We spent 2 days in this hotel and saw Chaumont, Chenonceau, Amboise and Villandry chateaus during this time. The gardens at Villandry were a highlight for me. Particularly since we enjoyed a very French lunch of baguettes and French pastries in the gardens.

We also saw the house where Leonardo Da Vinci spent the last years of his life and enjoyed reproductions of his machines.