Plus de Chateaux

There are more castles in the Loire than you can shake a stick at! Here are some of our favourites...

Blois



A lovely chateau in the heart of the town of Blois. Opposite is the house of Robert Houdin, who inspired the great Harry Houdini...



Chaumont-Sur-Loire







Amboise



Azay-le-Rideau













Breze



Breze has an incredible 15m deep moat, a daunting challenge for an attacker. The limesone base of the chateau is honey-combed with passages forming a defensive stronghold used back in the 9th century...





Saumur

Once Upon a Time...

I definitely had a fairytale birthday this year... We went to Rigny-Usse, where there is an enchanted castle at the edge of the forest and the river Indre, and sat down by the riverside under a tree to enjoy a picnic.



Château d'Ussé inspired Charles Perrault to write the classic retelling of Sleeping Beauty while he was a guest here. This chateau is rather special as it is still inhabited, by the ancesters of the Comte de Blois. Here are the children listening to the story...



Aurora's parents hold a gathering for her christening and the fairies give blessings to the young princess. But they forget to invite the bad fairy Carabosse.



She curses the princess, so that she will die...



The youngest fairy who is yet to give her present, is able to soften the curse so that Aurora will sleep for a hundred years when she pricks her finger on a spindle. The King and Queen banish all the spinning wheels from the kingdom, and they are burnt.



One day the princess is exploring the castle and goes into a tower she has never seen before. The old woman in the tower does not know about the burning of the spinning wheels, and Aurora pricks her finger in her curiousity. She (and the rest of the castle) fall into a deep sleep...



Until one day, a handsome prince battles his way through the thorns and kisses the princess.



I had some fun being a modern-day princess. Though being able to use stairs instead of depending on the length of my hair and perhaps needing only a short nap during the day, I didn't need any rescuing.



The rest of the castle is wonderful to explore too - there's the attic,



More interiors,



also a chapel, wine caves, and the stables; where we found a dog cart! The children living in the castle used to harness up their family dog so their dolls could go for a ride.



It was an absolutely wonderful day.

Chateau de Chenonceau

The Chateau de Chenonceau is one of the most graceful, with the River Cher flowing through its arches. It is undergoing a series of restoration works, so currently some of the exterior is underneath some scaffolding, but it was still very beautiful and we spent a while in Diane de Poitiers' library over the river and had a little daydream.



Diane was the favourite mistress of Henri II, who gifted the chateau to her. Catherine de Medici later 'swapped' Chenonceau with her for another chateau, Chaumont-sur-Loire...

Char & the Chateaux

Chateaux have fascinated me from when I was small, imagining exploring the turrets and rooftops, throwing stones in the moat and walking across the drawbridge. So this was really a dream holiday to come to stay in the Loire Valley and visit some of France's finest. On our way to Tours, Dave decided to stop at Chambord, the largest and probably the grandest chateau of them all.



It's certainly inspiring as the Parc de Chambord - surrounding forest and hunting grounds - cover more land than Paris; and there are more than 440 rooms, 85 staircases, and 364 chimneys to give you an idea of the sheer size of it all...



It's also famous for this staircase; the double spiral design is attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci.
Francois I built Chambord as a symbol of his power and might, but only stayed in Chambord for 42 days in total. In the majority of Chambord's history the chateau has remained uninhabited, due to the huge scale, it has always been difficult to heat the living areas and indoor kitchens were added much later in its history. There are eighteenth century modifications where the ceiling was lowered to and fireplaces added in attempt to make living more comfortable.



During our visit, the interiors were furnished with period fittings and furniture, and opera costumes and props also added atmosphere. Even the rooms with lowered ceilings were huge, some of them would have been larger than our entire flat...



Despite being somewhat lacking in practicality, Chambord was one of the highlights of the Loire Valley. Its interesting staircase, wonderful terrace and rooves and the novelty of wandering around a giant castle made it a great delight!

Versailles

Versailles was a grand beginning to our journey through France, towards the Loire Valley. Originally a hunting lodge, Versailles grew and grew more rich and splendid as French royalty made their own impressions on the palace.



We enjoyed even just watching the clouds change shape overhead...



The palace gardens are stunning in proportion and in their immaculate planning... the canals are built in the shape of a cross, and as you walk down there are countless fountains and sculptures, and 'bosquets' which are gardens conceived as outdoor drawing rooms, with walls of trees and hidden clearings.





The central fountains were enhanced by classical music. Unfortunately they only spout water at certain times of the day, recently restored, we supposed it was for conservation. Some of them only performed for an hour each day, so it was difficult to see all of them in action!



The detail of each feature was amazing.



The interiors of Versailles are also stunning, full of rich tapestries, chandeliers, furniture and textiles. This painting, the coronation of Napoleon's wife, was over 50 square metres in size!



Each of the apartments followed the style of having an antechamber, second antechamber, bedroom, and drawing rooms, studies, libraries and dressing rooms. In the King and Queen's rooms they were in accordance to protocol for the ceremony of royalty receiving their subjects in order of rank on waking and retiring to bed.




Of course, one of the highlights was the Hall of Mirrors...
each of the windows is reflected symmetrically by a mirror.



Some of the painted ceilings were amazing...



The scale of this room and the scale of the paintings depicting historical battles was incredible.



Our favourite part of our visit to Versailles was undeniably seeing the Domaine de Marie-Antoinette. Le Petit Trianon was gifted to her by Louis the 16th, and she added her 'hameau' or hamlet, a rustic mock-village where she and her children could delight in countryside pleasures.
There are grottoes and follies, an English garden, a farm where she could drink fresh milk, and her hamlet with gardens and charming houses.









A hamlet like this would not genuinely exist in the French countryside but its whimsy and playful charm make you understand its appeal to a queen living in the formality of court life.

We finished our visit with an icecream beside the canals and some friendly fish attracted our attention. They enjoyed eating bits of icecream cone, much to my delight in their funny mustached orange mouths...



...despite a bit of competition!