Friend Makin' Monday-April in Paris

Today Jolanthe at No Ordinary Moments is hosting Friend makin' Monday.
Our task is to tell the best or worst vacation I've ever taken and to tell places that I would like to go on a vacation. Since this is the time for vacations this is a fun one to think about. I have had a lot of great vacations. One that was so fun was to the Loire valley in France. A friend of ours was care taking a chateau for a year and suggested that we visit him there. We landed in Paris first on the first day of April so it was really like the song, April in Paris. Then we drove to the beautiful valley in central France known for it's chateaus (or castles) . Fred, and the two of us were the only ones that used the beautiful centuries old castle except for the owner had a German Shepherd and he was also on the property. The gorgeous, intricately carved, 20 ' tall iron gate greeted us and I was taken by the wonderful old architecture there as well as the beautiful grounds with spring just peeping through the ground. There were very old trees on the large property and a lovely stream meandering through it. It was so fairy tale-like. Each day we would go with Fred to a different brachant (flea market). I would tell Fred what I would like to buy, and with his perfect French would bargain for the goods. I did pretty well with my high school french and pointing to buy the fresh bakery items at each small town's patisserie--croissants and french bread or wonderful pastry with custard and raisins. Fred knew each town's special little cafe' which were family-owned so he would take us to a different one each night. After dinner we would walk the streets of the little villages as he would tell us the history of it. One of the towns history was Joan of Ark. I loved the ages old handmade cement planters at each home filled with trailing flowers that were so welcoming as we walked past. Every picture I took was post card-worthy because it was so beautiful from the primroses along the bank of the stream to simple front doors to the rooftops. We were there just a week. It was just the best vacation ever! I wish I could post pictures of it for you.
Some other places I would like to visit are:
Umbria, Italy
Kirkland, Ohio
Victoria, Canada
and back to France
What was your best vacation? To read more click here.

I hope you are enjoying your summer no matter where you are.