From Catherine's place it was an easy day trip to the castles of the Loire Valley. After some research we decided on Chateau Chenonceau instead of Chambord because apparently it was completely empty so it was only impressive from the outside -some fool had sold off all the to furnishings for equity. We had planned to see Chenonceau and then head to Tours for the afternoon to wander and to have dinner, however the castle ended up taking up most of the day and by the end we were so tired and it was late we decided to have a quiet dinner back at our house instead.
The castle cost about 12 euro which certainly wasn't cheap but it was so large I could understand the cost, and per person it wasn't too bad. We entered through a long path of straight trees and a long clear canal. There wasn't much wind and the reflection on the water was very pretty.
Next we came to 'the maze' which was very pretty but not actually much of a maze. It was easy to go from the outside to the middle, and then to the other end. It was fun though, and in the middle was a little gazebo which I imagined must have looked beautiful at night. Imagine the parties queens could have thrown here! And according to history they did too; in celebration of Catherine de Medici's son taking the throne, The first ever fireworks display in France was set off here, in 1560.
The castle from afar looked splendid. One of the reasons this castle attracted me was it's nickname of the 'ladies chateau' and the reasons behind this. It was long held by the queens (and sometimes mistresses) of the reigning king, each queen added to their place of residence and left their own mark.
These gorgeous gardens belonged to Diane de Poitiers who was the mistress of Henri II. We wandered around it for a while before the sun became too much and we fled to the shade of the castle. One of the things I liked about the gardens were that there were two, this one and one opposite it. I prefered this one but found it amusing that the other one was built by Catherine de' Medici to outshine Diane's. Catherine was extremely jealous (and fair enough with Diane being her husbands mistress!) and after the kings death, Catherine forced Diane out of the chateau and took it for herself.
The Chateau all it's glory
The castle was a maze of corridors floors and deadends so it took perhaps longer than it could have for us to see it all. At first we wandered through some sumptuous bedrooms with beautiful wall hangings in their original state.
Then we entered what was once the bridge across the river but was turned into this ball room by Catherine de Medici (probably to spite Diane again) still compete with the large river arches, it looked beautiful and the view of the river was fantastic.
My favourite part of the castle however was as we descended downwards into the kingdom of the kitchens. Quiet and empty, I imagine the atmosphere was a far cry from five hundred years ago, with the heat and the noise and hustle and bustle of a full royal household to cater for. I could quite easily imagine a fat cook ruling the kitchens with an iron grip.
A great fireplace gave an idea of the size of the meals that would have had to be cooked, and the bunches of herbs and odds and ends hanging from the ceilings added to this.
A particularly enjoyed looking at the actual cooking equipment of the time, and was actually very impressed. They had everything from scales to a mortar and pestle, pots, pans, chopping blocks and knives, it wasn't too far off a modern kitchen.
The pink room. I wonder why it could be called that!
One of the kings rooms, this room was perhaps the most luxiourous and had one of the nicest beds too!
Louise de Lorraine was another queen to live at this castle, and left her mark after the assassination of her husband after which she dressed only in white (a sign of mourning and for which she was known as the white queen) and had her rooms draped all in black for the rest of her life.
The beautiful woods surrounding the castle. This main path felt like something from Pride and Prejudice and I could imagine a carriage complete with Mr. Darcy inside passing me by at any moment.
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