France, Part 2, Loire River Valley Chateaux

One of the days that we were in Paris, Mark arranged for us to have a van tour of three Loire River Valley Chateaux.  The van could possibly have as many as 8 people in it, but as it turned out, it was just the 4 of us with Serge as our guide for the day.  We began at 7:00 am and returned to our apartment at 7:30 pm.

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.

The "driveway" leading to Chenonceau.

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.

Salamanders on the fireplace

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!

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!