I am almost hitting the halfway mark of my study abroad season. At home, I look forward to coming back to my host mom, hearty and mouth-watering three-course meal. At school, I have exhausted the “new guy” jacket, now I am growing a comfort of certainty of how my days are going. Little did I know that things were about to change, to get a fresh injection of foreignness when I visited two of the Chateaux closest to my city, “Château de Villandry et Château de Langeais”. The picturesque scenery stimulated my sense of appreciation in a way I’m sure will only come one or two more times in my lifetime. I was impressed by the well cultivated green fields in rectangular and square-like maze structures. When I shared with a few of my family back home, their responses totally agree with mine; the pictures look like pictures from the movies we watch on tv back home, knowing very well that they are from a far away land that we are more likely never to see with our own two eyes. I had a to squeeze in a “selfie” with a castle in the background because I anticipated without hard evidence that I took the photo, so many people were not going to buy the idea that I indeed visit these places, that I did not download them off the internet.
I loved to learn that these used to be residences of rich families in the past, and that tradition is in a way being preserved with these castles being bought by high-profile people. Previously, I was under the impression that something from the medieval era would lose value as time went on. It turns out, at least for architecture, the opposite is quite true. The worth of these chateaux will exponentially increase as we move into the future. I was impressed by the unique vineyards, green tennis courts and yards, the gray and red brick of the walls, the colorful flowers in the gardens. The sunny weather of the day appeared to want us to have the best view possible of these great castles.Merci France!