Early to bed, early to rise. Since the Loire Valley is two hours by bus from Paris, our tour departs extra early, at 7:15 a.m. Aboard the bus are translators for three languages -- French, English and Italian. The lone Italian speaker, actually a Russian woman named Anastasia, also speaks English and joins the English tour. She becomes our new best friend. Despite the early hour, everyone seems excited at the prospect of touring three of the most famous castles in the Loire Valley -- Chateau de Chenonceau, Chateau de Cheverny and Chateau de Chambord.
