Exploring The Beautiful Loire Valley.

Exploring the Loire Valley.

As there are so many wonderful chateaux to be seen in the Loire Valley and it actually covers a fairly large area, we have decided to base ourselves in two different towns so we can maximize the number of chateaux we can actually visit.

The first place we stayed was the delightful town of Chinon in the western half of the valley. Chinon and the area around here is known as Joan of Arc country, for it was in Chinon that Joan persuaded Charles VII to give her an army to drive the English out of France. This medieval town has a magnificent statue of Joan of Arc on horseback.

The view from our window at the Hotel Dirdot.

 



  The wonderful statue of Joan of Arc.

We stayed in a little hotel right in the middle of the old area of Chinon called the Hotel Dirdot and it was just delightful. We had a lovely old room on the first floor looking out on one of the old churches, an ivy covered stone house and a mass of trees on the side of the hill. It also had a beautiful small garden where we had breakfast and drinks after a busy day looking at the chateaux and even a resident cat. Everything about this hotel was just perfect and we loved our stay here.

The resident cat.

 



Enjoying breakfast in the garden.

 



The Hotel Dirdot makes its own wonderful selection of jams.

 From here we visited the last great Renaissance chateau to be built in the Loire Valley, the Chateau de Villandry which is a perfect example of 16^th century architecture. Its gardens are absolutely splendid and a magnificent example of the splendour of the formal gardens of the Renaissance Period. We spent a couple of hours just wandering through the three main formal gardens – (one was a formal kitchen and flower garden with sculptured trees, another was an ornamental garden and the third on the highest level was a water garden) and the French style informal gardens – (one in white and blue tones and the other in yellows and orange colours.) There was also a children’s garden and a formal herb garden and many archways covered in grape and wisteria vines. The inside of this chateau was decorated as if a present day family was living there and it had a very elegant but lived in feeling.

The Chateau and gardens at Villandry.

 



Part of the formal gardens.

The white and blue informal garden.

 



Inside the Chateau.

 

Next we visited the Chateau de Breze which was totally different. This Fortress is renowned for having the highest moat walls in France but as you walk towards it you think it is just sitting on a hill until you get right to the entrance bridge and the you see that the moat has actually been dug out to this great depth of 18mts. The interesting thing about this chateaux is that there is just as much happening in the caves and tunnels under the chateau as you can see above the ground. It was just fascinating to explore and learn about all the activities that took place in the caves that were only accessible from the dry moat and the tunnels up into the centre courtyard of the castle - horse stables, bakery, wine maker as well as families living in the caves.

This is what you see as you approach the Chateau de Breze.

The dry moat wall at the Chateau.

 Inside the chateau.

After we left Chinon, we went to Blois and stayed there for 3nights. On the way to Blois we visited the Chateau de Chenonceaux which unlike all the other chateaux in the Loire Valley, this one was created according to the wishes of powerful women notably King Henri II’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers and his widow, Catherine de Medici. In the Chateau there are many beautifully decorated and furnished rooms that create an impression of matchless grandeur. (The many painting and tapestries are just beautiful and in perfect condition.) The rooms include the bed chambers of many of the queens and mistresses, a fantastic equipped kitchen including its own butchery, a delightful chapel and a famous gallery built over five arches that extends out 60 mts across the Cher River and its elegant beauty is reflected in the rivers waters. The history of this chateau is amazing and I hope to read and discover more information when we get home.

The Beautiful Chateau Chenonceaux.



 

The Chapel.

 One of the many bedrooms.

The Chateau de Blois is perched high above the town and is also very interesting, in that it consisted of 4 wings around a large central court yard. Each wing was built during the reign of a different King and shows the wonderful architecture of that particular period. During our visit here we also saw a very realistic period re-enactment of a sword fight. This Chateau is authentically furnished and has many pictures that depict its troubled past. It also showed the work involved in the restoration of such properties.

 

The Main Entrance to the Chateau at Blois.

One of the wings with very ornate architecture.



The sword fight.



` From Blois we drove back down the Loire River to the old town of Amboise to see the historically important Chateau d’ Amboise. This Chateau was the first medieval fortress to be turned into a royal chateau. Louis XI lived here, Charles VIII was born and also died here and it was his favourite residence and Francois I was brought up here.

The Chapel. 

View of the Chateau from the gardens.

Another beautiful Chateau along the Loire River.

 



The view from the Chateau d' Ambrose. 

Under the patronage of Francois, Leonardo da Vinci the artist and inventor spent his final years and he is buried in the Gothic Chapel of St. Hubert, which is the chapel of the Chateau and situated high on its ramparts.

This very impressive chateau is situated high above the town and has magnificent views along the Loire River and it was a delight to visit.

The final chateau we visited was Cheverny which was finished in 1634. This Classical Renaissance Chateau was also very impressive but quite different from the others we have visited. It is noted for its stag hunting and has 70 hounds on the estate. It is magnificently presented with great expanses of manicured lawns and inside the rooms are decorated in 19^th century vintage.

The hounds in the Chateau grounds.

 



The entrance to the Chateau Cheverny.



Inside the Chateau. The top picture is the kings bedroom and the other the music room.

 



 

We have had a great time seeing how the wealthy and the Royals have lived in France over the past 500years. We have also learnt a lot about French history and where the country was governed at different times. There are hundreds of chateaux throughout France, many have been restored and our open to the public to visit. We have seen only a few but they were all very grand and each had a distinct personality and specialised in showing a particular part of how the wealthy lived in the past.