What? The US never had a king?

Hey castle,

This is Chambord. Apparently construction was started by François I and finished by Louis XIV, but he didn't like it so that's why he decided to finish Versailles. Its very interesting looking with a lot of detail and I was told, has a lot of Italian influence. It isn't what I expected... I was envisioning some medieval castle out of Sleeping Beauty but it was totally beautiful... and FREEEEEZING. There are 365 chimneys in there, one for each day and still it was totally cold. Anyway the area around the castle is known for its hunting grounds, mostly red tail deer and wild hogs. Neat right? But man, the trees were so pretty. The weird picture that looks like a sea anemone is actually a tree. Every winter they completely cut the branches off of these trees (I dont know what kind they are), so that next spring they will grow branches back but they will be all small and weird looking. That way the trees can't grow too tall. It looks really creepy like the trees on Mario bros. They are all stumpy but super leafy. I don't know, it makes for cool pictures though. Anyway it was a nice day and I'm happy that Mathieu was kind enough to take me. And yes, French people, the concept of kings is weird for us because, as the United States, we've only had Presidents. :) Yay Democracy.



But I do wish I could have been a Princess,
Love Leah