Mark, Serge, and Dawn outside our lunch place. We had Wild Boar Stew which was delicious!
Serge was very knowledgeable and told us about the surrounding countryside and other interesting historical facts about the families that lived or had lived in the chateaux that we were about to visit.
Our first stop was Chateau de Chenonceau, a castle built over the River Cher. Today it is owned by the Menier family, famous for their chocolate company which they sold to Nestle. They live in another chateau nearby.
Chenonceau was seized from the Bohier family by Francis I for unpaid debts to the Crown. Francis' personal emblem was the salamander and he incorporated it many times in the decorating. In this picture, Serge is pointing out the salamander over the doorway.
Francis' son, Henry II gave the chateau as a gift to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. After he died, his widow, Catherine de Medici forced Diane to exchange it for the Chateau Chaumont (why do they all start with CH?) Throughout the castle there were initials of Henry and Catherine intertwined. An H with two C's intertwined also looks like an H, a C, and a D for all the parties involved!
And beautiful gardens.
Chenonceau was seized from the Bohier family by Francis I for unpaid debts to the Crown. Francis' personal emblem was the salamander and he incorporated it many times in the decorating. In this picture, Serge is pointing out the salamander over the doorway.
Salamanders on the fireplace
Ceiling with intertwined letters
Catherine de Medici looked like a force to be reckoned with (painting, below). Her son, Francis II and Mary, Queen of Scots were married at Chenonceau.
Since the castle spanned the river, there were some long hallways similar to the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Or maybe someplace to promenade like Fontainebleau.
These next two photos show some door panels representing the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament figure is blind folded, signifying that there wasn't much light until Christ came with the new law.
The New Testament figure with a light and wheat in his hands, perhaps alluding to Christ being the bread of life and the light of the world.
There were beautiful woven tapestries....
Bedchambers with more beautiful tapestries....And beautiful gardens.
Above, Diane's garden from the castle balcony, below, the castle from Diane's garden.
Above: Mark & I, below: Morrie & Dawn
The second chateau we visited was Cheverny. It has been owned by the same family for six centuries and the current residents occupy the top floor.
More beautiful bedchambers with tapestries and ornate fireplaces.
I think this is the wedding dress of the current mistress of the chateau.
Music room
The family keeps more than 100 hunting dogs. Their trainers know them by name..... they looked very similar to me!
Our third chateau was Chambord.
It was constructed during Francis I's reign but was never completed. Leonardo DaVinci designed some of the chateau, including a double deck staircase designed so that Francis' wife and mistress would never meet as one left his rooms and one was coming up to his rooms.
Double staircase from the inside
Double staircase from the outside
There were many more places where the salamander was used as a design element. Look above the window here:
And then on the ceilings, as well. And the obligatory initial. They really liked putting their initials everywhere!
This tapestry shows Chambord in the distance.
It was a long day with lots of riding in the van, but the chateaux were spectacular and well worth the trip!
2 comments:
Very nice. I liked the great depth of field you got in the shot from the formal flower garden of Cheverny and the dogs. Did you use a flash for the inside photo of the DaVinci staircase?
If you guys feel like you want to retire to a house like one of those in France, I'd be ok with it.
Also, your mention of the family that sold their chocolate company to Nestle reminded me of this Friends scene: https://youtu.be/F1ShzUEKqgc?t=44s
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