We're now in Chinon, another cute little French town. And our hotel couldn't be more charming. We had a busy day before we got here, though. In the morning, we split up in groups to shop for our picnic lunch in the market. We had to buy the cheese. It was so much fun trying to ask questions in French and make decisions. There's one cheese that's called "horse dung" because it looks like that. It's as hard as a hockey puck and covered in mold, but it is so good! It's my favorite. We bought about six different kinds. Most of the cheese here is goat cheese, very yummy. Afterwards, Ann and I went walking around town. She likes to shop, and I like to take pictures. While I took off to take some shots, she'd pop into a store and look around. Before we left for Chinon, we all met in the park for our lunch. We had meats, cheeses, breads, fruit, and desserts and a few bottles of wine. The weather was perfect, and we both enjoyed it very much. Ann especially loved the sausage and was a little disappointed when it was gone. I was chatting with Cesar, and he told me that it was made of--Jody stop reading right now--horsemeat! Yes, horsemeat. I was debating whether to tell her or not, but I couldn't help myself. I grabbed my camera and told her right then and there. She was surprised to say the least, but she said she still liked it. We were a little sad to leave Bourges, but it was time to leave. On the way we stopped at a chateau in Chambord. It was used as a little hunting retreat in the 1500's. It was a long walk to get there, and there were lots and lots of stairs. Ann did not like it at all. She said it was fake! I pointed out the silk wall coverings, and she said, "fake, fake, fake." She said some Disney people probably made it. Personally, I don't think I'd want to live in a chateau either. There's a spiral staircase that goes up about five flights of stairs in the center. Can you imagine wearing those hot, bulky dresses and going down that spiral staircase every day? And what if you forgot something upstairs? Forget it. And who needs over 400 rooms? Aren't 200 enough? Anyway, it's interesting to see how royalty lived. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's chateau. Ann does like the cathedrals, though, and she was glad to see one in Chinon. We had probably our best meal of the trip tonight at our group dinner. We had a salad with bacon and hot goat cheese (very good), perch wrapped in a pastry and some sort of noodle thing. The dessert was awesome. I'm not sure what it was, but it was great! The French do make good pastries. And it's official--I've learned everybody's name! Our daily problem? Our tub/shower in Bourges had a clothes line that you could string across, so I decided to wash some clothes. In the morning, I took down the clothes. When it was time to take a shower, I forgot that the line was still there. It was exactly at neck height, and I almost decapitated myself. When we were in Paris, we saw the last thing Marie Antoinette saw before she was guillotined, and all I could think of was that the last thing I would see in my life was a shower stall in France!  And for those of you who wondered why she wasn't smiling in all the pictures, she said that she's taking lessons from her new BFF, Mona Lisa. We're having a lot of fun, wish you were all here, and we're enjoying hearing from you. Check out our pictures. This is the best Internet connection so far!