The two chateaux we toured are among the very best in the Loire Valley.
Luckily, we arose with the dawn. (The night before, the little town of Azay-le-Rideau had slumbered early.) As we walked the narrow medieval street leading to the chateau, merchants were setting out their wares. We got audio programs in English and exited the Visitors’ Center through the back door, and that moment was when we felt lucky to be among the first visitors. It was worth 4 trains from CDG to behold "the crowning achievement of the Renaissance in the Touraine" gleaming like an epiphany in the morning sun.

After an hour inside, we lingered on the grounds along the River Indre. Then we hiked that 1.2 miles again back to the train station, rode first to Chinon and then to Tours, ran out to see this town’s Hotel de Ville (beautiful!), jumped on another train to Chenonceau, walked all around the Old Town there and met the potter, and then toured "The Dames' Chateau." Whew, touring chateaus by train is hard work! But even if I hadn’t been charged by an angry male black swan--"Yes, I see your lady on her eggs there in the leaves!"--the Chateau of Chenonceau also would have been worth all the trouble to get there. On River Cher, it shimmered in the water like Paris in the Seine.

Balzac’s beloved Touraine and an adult fairytale town.
We relished the scenery between towns. Many houses have roofs decorated with parapets, and gardens were beautiful in April. No wonder Balzac loved the area! His house in Sache, 3 miles from Azay-le-Rideau, is still set up the way it was when he lived there. We missed it, since (horror of horrors!) we had forgotten our folder labelled "Loire Valley." My favorite novelist of all times gives me reason to return. Besides, I loved our hotel with the vine-covered facade. Two nights, I opened our French doors and sat on the tiny balcony watching the sun set on the barn across the street. As I mentioned before, the town is quiet early, except for the light-and-sound shows at 10 p.m. at the chateau. We liked the sun on the chateau, so we saved ten euros each and enjoyed a quiet evening in the hotel bar--and I mean quiet! This stay was a good rest before Paris.

${QuickSuggestions}
Where is Azay-le-Rideau?
When we arrived at the rail station, we looked around and saw no town in any direction, so we tried to get back into the station to call a taxi. It was already locked--and still daylight! The attendant had disappeared fast. The only public building in sight was the Relais across the street. It was also closed, but a man was inside. "A gauche," he said, so we walked left, much more than a mile, dragging our luggage over sidewalks too narrow for it. Steps protruded onto the walk, and we had to lift our luggage over them. Good advice would be to make that attendant stay until you have called a taxi--oh, the driver will be at our hotel having coffee with the proprietor, where he was when we got there. (They’re related--and proud of it!) Everyone we met in this town was undeniably cute as French puppydogs, and I mean that as a great compliment. I began to wonder where Balzac got his material for his terrible villains! Folks here are simply laid back.
${BestWay}
Walk, ride, or peddle.
Without luggage, the main drag into town is a pleasant walk lined with once-stately homes from another era. French gingerbread is unique, and I’m enthralled by the brick-stripe that looks like a twist on Flemish Mosan. Styles here were not in evidence in other places we visited in France. We walked this distance each day and took many pictures--and then rounded up the taxi driver for our return to the station.
Trains from Azay-le-Rideau run either to Chinon or to Tours. There is only one route, which runs four or five times each day, depending on season. We rode to Chinon because that’s the way the train was headed at that hour, and from there, it turned around and went to Tours, where we got the train to Chenonceau. (We simply enjoyed the ride in preference to waiting at the station.)
This entire area of the Loire Valley is of UNESCO World Heritage designation, and perhaps this fact explains why trains here are so nice, twice as new and clean as those in other areas we visited. A bicycle would also work, as these towns are less than 20 miles apart.
From journal Touring Chateaux from Azay-le-Rideau