Voila! Un Château!

 We had a busy day today! It was quite fun. This morning we toured le Château Royal, home to 7 kings and 8 queens of France. It's a really neat place; there are 4 wings all surrounding a main courtyard, and each of the sides was built in a different century. The oldest dates back to the 13th century, and is an old feudal hall built by the original duke and duchess. Later owners would then come in and tear down most of the buildings on the site and build over it all. Thus the kind of eclectic look the chateau has today. But it makes for an interesting tour!
We also visited "The House of Magic". M. Robert-Houdin was apparently the father of modern magic, the first magician to perform in evening dress and a top hat with all the flourish. He was also an avid tinkerer and watchmaker, and and lived in Blois, so his old estate is now a museum of oddities. It was obviously geared toward small children, judging on the number of them running around, but Michael and I managed to amuse ourselves with the optical illusions nontheless. We also went to a magic show, which was pretty entertaining. It was all mimed, so the language wasn't a problem, and they had some pretty nifty tricks, including the classic "climb into a box and disappear", which was very well done.
In total, we have about 50 pictures from today. However, since the internet is... um... less than fast, I'm only uploading a portion of them. Honestly, I got a little frustrated and just started clicking on pictures, so here is a nice random selection from today. Parents, this just means that you'll have an excuse to sit us down and go through photos once we get home. (:

The view of Blois looking back over the river after we walked across the bridge last night.

There are lots of pretty gardens/cultivated plots all over the city. This was one impressive staircase!

In front of le Château Royal. You can see the 14th century wing (with the fancy red and white brick) and the 13th century wing.

And here you can see the 15th century wing on the right, and the 17th century wing on the left. The 17th century king decided to stop funding the rebuilding process partway through, so the workers up and left once they stopped getting paid, leaving most of it unfinished. So some columns are carved and some aren't.

And a few random pictures of optical illusions. Many Michaels are trapped in chess pieces! Oh no!

There were lots of things with mirrors and lights that looked cool.