Oct 03, 2011

We had a leisurely breakfast and didn’t head off until a bit after 10am but we had lots of sightseeing ahead of us. The morning was beautifully cool and misty as we headed off along the banks of the Loire River on roads which were as much levee banks as roads and have travelled on more of those throughout the day. The Loire Valley was where the French royalty and aristocracy built their ‘summer houses / palaces’ in times gone by and there are many and they are definitely high on the ‘magnificence’ scale.



Chateau de Chenonceau viewed from the edge of one of the gardens. The Chateau is built out across the river and allowed access for watercraft to provide goods for the Chateau Larder from the water, it also allowed for beautiful cool ventilaton through the building from on top of the water which we appreciated today. The palace was whimsical and decorated beautifully with incredible tapestries and a tribute to those preserving it for future generations that it is in such good condition. Some major restoration works were in progress.

Our first stop was Chateau de Chenonceau which was just beautiful and probably the most beautiful of the three we visited today though all were different. This had an interesting history belonging to the mistress of the monarch at one time who had the good sense to give it back to the widow of the monarch when he died. I imagine she got to keep her head that way. We’ve decided it was a very expensive exercise for the aristocracy to maintain wives and mistresses….no different to modern times I guess though the capacity for the wives to keep track is likely easier these days.....and more costly for the straying husband as it should be.



One of the beautiful gardens within the moats of the Chateau

From here we headed off to the village of Amboise to visit Le Chateau des Rois de France (The Royal Chateau Amboise) which again was beautiful but where Chenonceau had been built more as a family home and a place of retreat and enjoyment, this had been more a fortress though quite magnificent rising up over the village along with its spiral ramped entry for horses and carriages and two horsemen abreast from village level to the courtyard of the Chateau. I also liked the garden here, it was tiny compared to the previous Chateau but ordered and peaceful to look over and totally on top of the hill and beautiful in its own way. The Royal family of the time were its owners and the Monarch Francis retained Leonardo da Vinci as a member of the court who continued much planning work for him. Leonardo da Vinci was buried in the chapel here at his request.



Amboise – Chateau Royal from above the garden

The day had gotten very hot by the time we left here but we had decided on a picture we wanted (thanks to a brochure at the Chateau) so headed off to get that before we headed to our final destination for the day.



Two Aussie bikers and the village of Amboise with the Chateau Royal in the background – A signature French shot!

Our final port of call was at Clos Luce and the Parc Leonardo da Vinci. This was the Castle Leonardo da Vinci lived in for the final three years of his life and the park like gardens which were the grounds. Really peaceful. He was great friends with the Monarch Francis and was a favoured member of the Royal Court. This was a lovely building and home, the building was beautiful and tasteful and not fussy at all and in remarkably good shape. The big bonus for the boys was that there were working models of heaps of his inventions in the basement which were quite remarkable. What a brilliant mind this man had! To quote Norm ‘imagine what he could have done if he had an engine and modern materials!’



Clos Luce from the garden (the back of the building)

Bits and Bobs:



One of the many floral arrangements from Chateau de Chenonceau provided from their own garden which were scattered throughout the Chateau and really enhanced the experience. I think I enjoyed these almost as much as the Chateau. They were just beautiful and we loved visiting the Chateau farm and the flower and vegetable gardens also.





As a matter of principle this was one of Leonardo da Vinci’s invention labelled as ‘The First Car’ complete with the description which was attached.