Le chevalier

Luckily for Action Boy it's not all chateaux in the Loire valley.  There are plenty of activities geared towards kids and despite quite a bit of rain we managed to fit in a few.

We found very interesting troglodyte caves which were partially recreated to how they would have been when they were lasted lived in around a hundred years ago.  It would have been a horribly hard life living in a small, damp cave.

Little Miss D was in furry animal heaven with many cute rabbits, chickens, geese and goats to chat to in the little farm yard.

Despite a rocky start on the flight over, Baby A has been a trooper and will eventually go to sleep in the pram or baby backpack when we're out and about.  However he does find it hard to "switch off" and like any younger sibling, never wants to miss out on anything!

Frenchmen playing the accordion on a cobblestone street is obviously frightening for small boys and so you have sprint away after throwing a coin or two into his hat!

Chinon

 A real hit with Action Boy were the games and activities set up at a 10th century fortress in Montbazon.  These games were great and lots of fun to play (the shelter was also great with the heavy rain!).  The kids also made little leather money pouches which have not left their necks in nearly a week!

Of course the most fun game was the jousting horse!  Nice work Nifty!  The weather was really quite terrible on this day but it did mean there wasn't a crowd so we weren't cramped at all and we were able to take our time!

After passing all the "tests" to become a knight, Action Boy and Little Miss D were knighted Chevaliers de la Fortresse du Falcon Noir.  The serious face must be because of the real sword on his shoulder - afterwards he was thrilled.

Little Miss D was most impressed with the geese and the white baby goat who followed us around...

xx