Wine…Gastronomy…Chateaus… welcome to the Loire Valley. With so many amazing castles to choose from and limited time as we make our way to Provence, we decided to narrow our choice to visiting only 2 castles, the most romantic, Chateau de Chenonceau, and the most extravagant, Chateau de Chambord.
Chenonceau was designed by 3 different women that once lived in the Chateau. Henri II originally gave the chateau to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers who built a bridge on the back of the chateau so the men could easily walk to their hunting ground on the other side of the river Cher. Henri II unexpectedly died and his wife, Catherine de Medici kicked his mistress out of the house and Catherine moved in. She renovated the bridge making it a two story gallery modeled after the Ponte Vecchio in Florence which was her home town. The southern garden belonged to Diane de Poitiers and the northern was Catherine’s.
It was interesting how the living areas seemed small compared to the two giant first and second floor galleries for entertaining. During World War II, The French Resistance fighters used it as an escape point since other bridges were controlled by the Germans. Later in the war, the galleries were used as a hospital for injured allied soldiers and they could even fish from their beds.
That evening we spent the night at a charming hotel only 2 minutes from the Chateau, Bon Laboureur Hotel http://www.bonlaboureur.com/en/ The best thing about this hotel was the Michelin star restaurant Auberge du Bon Laboureur http://www.lafourchette.com/restaurant/auberge-du-bon-laboureur/2934 The most amazing meal we’ve had in France so far. The white asparagus were massive, the service impeccable, and the lamb shank to die for. Lisa has a goal of eating at at-least ten Michelin star restaurants whilst in France.
The next day we headed to see the largest castle in the Loire Valley, Chambord, which is also called the Versailles of the 16th Century. It was begun by King Francis I in 1519 when he was 25 years old. The Mona Lisa and other works of art from the Louvre and Versailles were temporarily stored in the chapel during WWII. Chambord was originally fashioned as a hunting lodge but with 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces, and 426 rooms, it became the largest Chateau in the Loire. King Francis never saw the project completed but his son, Henry II and Louis XIV were responsible for the way the Chateau currently looks today. This is a state owned facility so everything there is very accessible. You can walk in most of the rooms without feeling like you are on a tour and even the old tapestries are not protected behind glass, etc. like in Versailles.
The Chateau was built with a local stone from the Loire Valley called tufa which is soft and pliable and has begun to disintegrate- hence the scaffolding.
The unusual design of the double helix staircase suggests that perhaps Leonardo da Vinci designed it since he had been invited to visit France when the chateau was being built.
