Day 47, Tuesday 5th November. Blois and Chambord chateaux
Blois chateau proved a delight. A 15 minute walk across the Loire river bridge noting the Coromants, from the rather desolate campervan Aire on the outskirts of Blois, near a derelict playing field ( but with CCTV, fence barrier , flat tarmac surface , large pitch, water and waste services,€8 per night plus €2 for 15 mins using services)
At the entrance to the chateau , we were given a Histopad, which recreates every room as it was during a particular historical period and it gives information about the history of each painting and piece of furniture; this interactive Ipad is a great idea and is in use in all of the chateaux. Free with the admission price of €8 each.
Fascinating mix of 4 different architectural styles at this chateau as successive occupiers built onto the original; mediaeval , classical, renaissance , gothic , and home to 7 kings and 10 Queens of France.I was most drawn to Francis 1 who seemed the epitome of Renaissance man with his coterie of mignons surrounding him (poets, playwrights etc )
From the front, the chateau looks very unprepossessing , a medieval country house , situated up steps, in the middle of Blois town with no gardens , but it expands significantly as you enter the courtyard with each side of the courtyard constructed in a different style; the spiral staircase, built in the classic period section is very out there .
The rooms are all well furnished and beautifully decorated ( thanks to Felix Labin the 19th century architect who painstakingly reimagined the wallpaper and soft furnishings ) and there is an impressive religious art gallery in the Royal apartments. It is also the site of the audacious murder of the Duc de Guise, a powerful advocate of RC religion and seen as an increasing threat to the reign of the Protestant Henry III who arranged to have him murdered in the King's bedroom one 23 Dec and then arranged to have his brother (a cardinal)killed the very next day, on Xmas Eve . The chateau is extremely well curated , clear explanations are provided in English, and there are interesting historical stories to absorb;the whole chateau is a slightly mad but aesthetic delight to behold , with high drama and derring -do in the mix. Catherine de Medici , falsely maligned at the time ,was a wise and compassionate regent ruler according to documents of the time. She has a portrait here. Highly recommended.
We came back the the van for lunch Weather cold, grey, intermittent rain .We decided to drive on to Chambord chateau 15 k across country, the largest, most imposing and most visited chateau in the Loire valley , famed for its internal double-helix marble staircase .
We parked up at the Aire ( a section of the Chateau car park set aside for camping vans , no services €11 )
This was a very different experience .We were under dressed and it was damp weather , the chateau was unheated with many outer doors left open. The chateau is the most expensive we have visited (€17.50 each) and is very OTT to look at from outside, but the many rooms we walked through were virtually devoid of any furnishings. Apparently Kings would only stay a short time , 80 days per year at the most, usually for the hunting in the autumn, it was land reclaimed from a large flooded marshy area , plagued with mosquitoes during the very hot summers, and freezing cold in the winter. Kings would bring all their furnishings with them ( 10,000 courtiers would accompany the entourage ) and pack up and move everything on to the next chateau. Apparently, Francis 1 spent most of his life on the move between chateaux, restless soul that he was ( or was it a power ploy?) You can see the seeds being set for the French Revolution , such conspicuous opulence, such disparity between the life of the Court and lack of interest in the well being of the general population, how history keeps repeating itself.
We also saw the levee and coucher room where the king was dressed and put to bed at night.The actor who plays Louis X1V so convincingly in the French TV series bears a remarkable resemblance to the bust of the Sun King on display here. Excellent TV series BTW ...
The double helix staircase is internal and so its impressiveness is sadly hidden. It was built to see and be seen whilst using it . You could both descend a staircase at the same time and not encounter each other over 4 stories , apart from tantalising glimpses on the way down (see photos) A short video at the beginning showed the architectural construction of it and attributed the chateau 's construction to Leonardo da Vinci. The towers are totally gothic and OTT Francis 1 and Catherine's initials are engraved everywhere , Francis was Master of Chambord and he made sure everyone knew that , their initials can be found on ceilings doors etc along with the Salamander his royal emblem , ' I feed on the good fire and extinguish the bad' The chateau had its own theatre.This ' hunting lodge' was not a home, it was built to impress foreign kings who visited .I found myself losing respect for old Francis.
After the revolution it became an Army barracks and restoration since then has been long and slow.
The Histopad here was very confusing to use, we moved back and forth between rooms in puzzlement until we gave up on it altogether .The classically laid out gardens were impressive to behold but too cold to walk around. 🙁
We left the chateau at 5.40 and stayed the night there in the van, very quiet , no bird sounds at all , this has been noticeable for most of our trip , no sounds of wildlife.😢
We parked up at the Aire ( a section of the Chateau car park set aside for camping vans , no services €11 )
This was a very different experience .We were under dressed and it was damp weather , the chateau was unheated with many outer doors left open. The chateau is the most expensive we have visited (€17.50 each) and is very OTT to look at from outside, but the many rooms we walked through were virtually devoid of any furnishings. Apparently Kings would only stay a short time , 80 days per year at the most, usually for the hunting in the autumn, it was land reclaimed from a large flooded marshy area , plagued with mosquitoes during the very hot summers, and freezing cold in the winter. Kings would bring all their furnishings with them ( 10,000 courtiers would accompany the entourage ) and pack up and move everything on to the next chateau. Apparently, Francis 1 spent most of his life on the move between chateaux, restless soul that he was ( or was it a power ploy?) You can see the seeds being set for the French Revolution , such conspicuous opulence, such disparity between the life of the Court and lack of interest in the well being of the general population, how history keeps repeating itself.
We also saw the levee and coucher room where the king was dressed and put to bed at night.The actor who plays Louis X1V so convincingly in the French TV series bears a remarkable resemblance to the bust of the Sun King on display here. Excellent TV series BTW ...
The double helix staircase is internal and so its impressiveness is sadly hidden. It was built to see and be seen whilst using it . You could both descend a staircase at the same time and not encounter each other over 4 stories , apart from tantalising glimpses on the way down (see photos) A short video at the beginning showed the architectural construction of it and attributed the chateau 's construction to Leonardo da Vinci. The towers are totally gothic and OTT Francis 1 and Catherine's initials are engraved everywhere , Francis was Master of Chambord and he made sure everyone knew that , their initials can be found on ceilings doors etc along with the Salamander his royal emblem , ' I feed on the good fire and extinguish the bad' The chateau had its own theatre.This ' hunting lodge' was not a home, it was built to impress foreign kings who visited .I found myself losing respect for old Francis.
After the revolution it became an Army barracks and restoration since then has been long and slow.
The Histopad here was very confusing to use, we moved back and forth between rooms in puzzlement until we gave up on it altogether .The classically laid out gardens were impressive to behold but too cold to walk around. 🙁
We left the chateau at 5.40 and stayed the night there in the van, very quiet , no bird sounds at all , this has been noticeable for most of our trip , no sounds of wildlife.😢
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| Chambord |
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