1 post tagged “loire valley”

On Tuesday Jan. 22 we took a day trip to the Loire Valley in France where we toured two castles and a chateau.

Our first stop of the day was Castle Chambord. 

This castle is huge at 156 meters (nearly 512 feet) long and 56 meters (just over 183 feet) tall.  It has 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces and 426 rooms.  King Francis I ordered the castle built in 1519, he died in 1547 before the castle was finished.  He spent a total of 72 days at the unfinished castle.  His son, Henry II, and Louis XIV were responsible for making Chambord look the way it looks today.  It took over 60 years for the castle to be completed. 

 It is rumoured that Leonardo da Vinci designed the double helix staircase that dominates the center of the keep.

The walls are covered by tapestries that depict many different things.  They were designed to help keep the warmth in and the moisture at bay.  It was hard to heat this castle as the ceilings were high and the rooms were huge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The French government bought the castle in 1930 and is in the process of refurbishing it to it's previous glory.  Even though the castle is over 450 years old it has only ever been physically lived in for less than 20 years.  These were on again off again times as the castle was handed down from family member to family member.  Only two kings of France ever stayed at the castle; King Francis I and Louis XIV. 

When you walked into any of the bedrooms you were immediately struck by how small the beds looked.  It is just an optical illusion as the ceilings are so high---I tried to figure it out and decided it was at least 20 feet if not higher.  The bed curtains were not so much for privacy as they were to help keep the occupant in the bed warm.

The walls of the Kings bedroom was covered in portraits of the various kings, queens and other nobility that had lived and/or visited the castle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Castle Chambord we hopped back on the bus and toured some more French countryside while on our way to our next stop. 

 

The second stop of the day was The Chateau of Cheverney.  You will have to be satisfied with just an outside shot of the chateau as it is still occupied by the descendants of the original builders/owners and they have strictly forbidden cameras and pictures of their home. 

 

We were, however allowed to tour the 'historically recreated parts.  The family resides in the far right section of the chateau.  The rest of it was open for our 'viewing' pleasure.  It has been wonderfully and lovingly restored to it's original designs and decorations.  There are so many things there that I would have loved to take pictures of and share with you.  But, I couldn't.  I can only keep the memories of the arms room, the drawing room and the children's rooms in my head.

After a wonderful lunch of salmon and wine we once again boarded the bus.  Our destination: Castle Chenonceau.

 

Yes, that is a river running under the castle.  How cool is that?  I am constantly amazed at the engineering capabilities the people had back in the 16th century.

This castle has three parts to it.  The very first original castle was built in the Medieval times, and was razed in preparation for the building of the new castle.  The only thing that remains of the original castle is the Marques Tower.  It is not physically attached to Chenonceau, but is a part of it's beauty.

 

The exsisting castle was built in 1513 by Thomas Boheir, one of King Francis I's trusted men.  Thomas moved his family into the castle, they were living there comfortably when Thomas passed away.  After his trusted man's death the king went through his books and discovered the his money paid for the construction of Chenonceau.  The king claimed the castle for his own. 

 

After King Henry II took the throne he presented Chenonceau to his 'favorite', Diane.  When King Henry II died his widow demanded that Diane hand Chenonceau back to the crown.  While living there Catherine had the third section of the castle built (the long section over the river).  She enjoyed reading in one of the small rooms that overlooked the river.  Unfortunately for the servants Catherine's reading room was on the first floor and her library was on the third.  When the castle was complete Catherine threw an inauguaral ball which was attended by two other queens.

 

This bedroom was slept in by at least five different queens.  I find it amazing that there is still some of the original flooring still around even after nearly 500 years.

 

 

 

When we got done touring the inside of this magnificent castle we went outside to explore the gardens.  We decided to see if we could get lost in the hedge maze.

 

uhm...not possible as the hedges are trimmed to about four feet 10 inches.  I could stand on my tiptoes and see the way in and the way out.  It was still fun to walk along and imagine what life was like so many hundred years ago.

After Chenonceau we boarded the bus and went back to Paris.  Where we packed up all of our stuff so we could get on a plane to Rome the next morning.

Those stories and pics may have to wait awhile.  I believe I may have exceeded my VOX picture storage for the month.  ~sigh~  I had trouble loading a picture I wanted to share...maybe it's just a glitch.