It was a little cool and rainy on the day we visited Chartres, but the next day dawned bright and sunny for our visit to the first chateau on our list, Chambord. The lovely weather was especially appreciated after our bad night at an interesting B&B in Huisseau-sur-Cosson. This was the first bomb from our otherwise wonderful French B&B book. The less said about it, the better. Happily, the other B&B I had been considering still had a room available when we called early Saturday morning and, as my dad would say, we got the heck out of dodge!
With its proximity to Paris, the Loire Valley was a favorite escape for French royalty and nobility. After several centuries of castle-building, today the valley is littered with fantastic chateaux. Begun by François I in 1519, the Château de Chambord was built as a hunting lodge. (Seriously. You can see why the French people revolted!)
Chambord is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is a crazy fantasy of turrets and towers, with 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces, and 426 rooms!
The main entrance is around back
This is the central stairwell at Chambord, a distinctive double-helix form thought to be the work of none other than Leonardo da Vinci!
There are actually twin spiraling staircases with openings at each turn, across which you can see your spouse, for example, but never the paths do meet.
After a nice lunch in the chateau courtyard, we set off for the village of Sologne and chateau number two.
Lunching in the courtyard of Chambord
Our second castle of the day, the Château de Cheverny, is a private home and has been in the same family, the Huraults, for more than 6 centuries! Well, technically they "lost" it twice -- the first time was in the 16th century when Diane de Poitiers, having been kicked out of Chenonceau by Catherine de Medici, bought Cheverny as her "bridge" chateau, i.e. the place to live while renovating her future, permanent chateau of Chaumont-sur-Loire. The second time occurred in the 18th century when the heirs "lost interest in their inheritance" and sold the place. However a Hurault ancestor re-bought the ancestral home in 1825, and it has remained in the family ever since.
Cheverny is a pretty chateau with lovely grounds, and is known for the richness and completeness of its interior furnishings.
Embroidered wallpaper inside Cheverny
This chandelier is silver-plated solid bronze and weighs over 100 kg (220 lbs)!
The owners of Cheverny are keen hunters and so the chateau is also home to ±100(!) French hunting hounds. The kennels are a tourist draw in themselves, but personally we found the whole 'dog zoo' thing to be rather weird.
Our favorite parts were the much lovelier potager (kitchen garden) and the back gardens.
In the potager
In the potager
In the back gardens
The orangerie
After our bad experience of the previous evening, we were SO glad to receive a warm welcome at our "rescue B&B", the lovely Clos du Golf. As that evening was our actual anniversary, our kind hosts even arranged dinner reservations for us next door at the Restaurant de l'Hôtel Fleuray, a restaurant gastronomique listed in the Guide Michelin.
Our fancy entrées (appetizers)
Delicious dessert!
We devoted our last day in the Loire Valley to one site: the beautiful house and grounds of the Château de Chenonceau. It is a fascinating, fairytale domaine (estate), complete with castle dramatically-sited over a river, formal gardens, maze, orangerie, and farm, all set in a lush forest.
A formal allée of trees lines the central path to the chateau, but then charmingly blends into the wild forest.
Our visit fell on a beautiful, hot day, and we enjoyed strolling through the surrounding formal gardens "taking some sun".
As beautiful as the grounds were, though, the chateau itself was equally impressive. The current house was constructed in the 16th century, and its most famous residents were Henri II, his wife Catherine de Medici, and his mistress Diane de Poitiers (though not all at the same time, obviously). The property changed hands several times throughout the centuries and even served as a field hospital during WWI, but has survived remarkably intact.
The Marques Tower is the only remaining building (the keep) from the earlier, medieval castle and mill that used to occupy the site.
Chenonceau spans the River Cher -- as in, the piers are literally sunk in the riverbed.
This makes for some pretty interesting interior spaces -- long, lovely galleries, and rooms and windows sited to capture the sound of the water and the river views.
Another super interesting feature (and my favorite part!) of the chateau is its HUGE, beautiful kitchens! Located at river-level, the kitchens have their own dock so that, during Catherine de Medici's day (back in the 1500s), boats could simply pull up to drop off supplies.
After our day of sun and chateau-ing, we headed to the nearby town of Amboise for an early dinner of pizza at a sidewalk café. Back at the B&B, we settled in with our books at a little outdoor table overlooking the golf course, and enjoyed the fresh country evening until it grew dark (around 10:30). A lovely anniversary weekend and a great "last big trip" before we two become three...
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