Is it possible to be bored with chateaux? The Loire Part 2

Monday 22nd May

Today we saw two more chateaux and they have all been so different and distinctive that it is easy to see lots - four in our case - and not be bored at all.

First on our list was Chateau de Chenonceau. The names are confusing as lots of them seem to start with Ch...

This chateau was fascinating not just because it is built over the Cher river and has beautiful gardens but the scandal and gossip that are part of it's history make it far more interesting than just the bricks and mortar. Given to Diane de Poitiers by Henry 2nd in the 16th century, as she was his favourite mistress, she developed and expanded it. After his death Catherine Medici, his wife, took it back and gave her a different Chateau, and then Catherine continued to expand it whilst she lived there and managed France until her son was old enough to reign. Must have been some interesting discussions in this chateau!

One of the aspects of this Chateau that I really loved were the superb frehs flowers in many of the rooms. They came from the Chateau gardens and are changed twice every week by the Chateau gardeners.

Then we headed along the back roads for the city of Blois to see the Chateau Royal du Blois.

As we drove along narrow country roads surrounded by planes of green wheat interspersed with dark green woods, we came a across a deer standing calmly in the middle of the road. It sprang off into the woods as we came closer but didn't seem too phased by our arrival. We have seen lots of road signs warning of deer, and we are staying in the middle of some significant forests, but hadn't actually seen a live deer until today. Paule, our host, was planting flower boxes to go in the high windows of the house as her attempts to grow any flowers within reach of the local wild deer have ended in disaster. Apparently they eat the entire plant regardless of what it is!

In this photo you can see on the left the rather untidy
 cut that one of the Kings made to the previous
 King's building so he could build something entirely different!

The  Chateau Royal du Blois was a surprise as it is literally in the middle of a town and surrounded by other large old buildings. Unlike Chenonceau, it has absolutely no gardens at all, and is rather odd in that it had 5 kings responsible for building sections of it. Each of them used a completely different style so there is no symmetry and consistency across the buildings at all.

Totally different architecture again!

After going up and down and around to explore the Chateau, we were desperate for a coffee so we sat at an open air cafe in a square near the Chateau. Suddenly lots of people stopped and stared at a building next to us and it was quite a surprise!

 In the chateau we had heard about the importance of salamanders, as they were the symbol for King Francois 1st  who was responsible for the building of many of the Chateaux we had seen. Hundreds of salamanders had been carved into his section of this chateau and many of the others. And suddenly there were huge golden salamanders moving and breathing smoke, hanging out of a mutlistorey arts building nearby. They were very impressive and part of an exhibition apparently.

We decided to have a quiet night in so found a Carrefour to buy something we could heat up for dinner: dauphinoise potatoes, pork-stuffed tomatoes and rice, and a pear tart. I do a great line in heating up, as opposed to cooking, these days, as these meals are fresh and tasty (and cheap!).

The joys of modern technology helped as we watched a movie on the laptop and headed to bed to revive ourselves for more Chateaux tomorrow.

your weary correspondent

Dianne

PS Here's some photos of the fabulous forest that we are staying in.......until tomorrow. The forest is still and very quiet except for the birds ....we even heard a few cuckoos. When you walk into it, the ground is very soft because of the leaf mould and damp underfoot. Very calming and peaceful with the green of the foliage changing as the sun moves. A beautiful place to spend a few days.

Lots of moss and interesting fungi