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We visited about two and a half castles a day on this trip. The "half castles" were either major ones where we got there too late to visit and just did a "drive-by shooting" of it, or a smaller, less well known castle that showed up at the right time.
After our very positive experience with a Bed-and-Breakfast (chambre d'hôtes) near Pau, we decided to stay in ones in the Loire valley. We found a nice place near the river just outside Saumur, and another one on the outskirts of Amboise. We took a few pictures so that you would know just what sort of accommodations you might find.
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The Loire Valley is
where French nobility built their castles. It was just a couple of days from
Paris, The climate was mild, the wines were good, and there was lots and lots of
limestone to build with.
During
our tour of one of the castles we peeked around a corner and discovered why
castles fall into ruins after so many years: it's the pigeons! We saw this guy
pecking away at the mortar dislodging one grain of sand after another. Forget
about rain and warfare: protect your castle from the avian villians!