Our first stop was at the castle of Chambord, which has an amazing double-helix staircase. This castle was constructed in 1519 and finished in 1547. It has 282 fireplaces, 84 staircases and 440 rooms: you can really get lost trying to find your room! The castle is very big and interesting. It is actually the biggest castle in the Loira Valley and it was built as a hunting lodge for King Francois I, but he spent barely seven weeks in total! The castle is not well furnished but the double-helix staircase is really amazing to see.
We got back on the bus and drove for a little while, until we reached the small village of Chenonceaux, for which the Chenonceau Castle takes its name. This is my mom's favorite castle and it was built on the site of an old mill on the River Cher. Chenonceau castle is also called the "Chateau de Dames" - Castle of the Ladies. The reason for this name is that King Henry II gave the castle as a gift to Diane de Poitiers. She loved and lived in this castle and made improvements like the arched bridge that joins the castle to the opposite bank of the river Cher. When Kind Henry II died in 1559, Queen Catherine took the castle away from Diane de Poitiers and it became her favorite castle. Queen Catherine added a new series of gardens. She hosted many parties and held the first firework display see in France. Upon her death, the castle went to her daughter-in-law, Louise de Lorraine-Vaudemont, wife of King Henry III. Louise was at Chenonceau when she was told of her husband's assassination in 1589. She fell into a state of depression and she spent the remaining of her days wandering along the hallways of the castle. She was in such a state of depression that apart from dressing in mourning clothes, she even had somber black tapestries stitched with skulls and crossbones.
After lunch, we left and our tour took us to Chateaux de Cheverny, which is a privately owned castle, so only a small part of it is opened to the public. After having passed in the hands of many owners, the Hurault family was able to buy it back in 1824 and it remained in this family since. In 1914, the owner opened the castle to the public and it was one of the first one to do something open a castle to the public. The castle is still operated by the Hurault family and it is a big tourist attraction because the creator of Tintin used the castle as a model for his fictional "Chateau de Moulinsart". There is a small house on the castle ground that hosts a Tintin Museum. I didn't go there because the entrance fee was too high. I got a Tintin t-shirt instead.
I loved the trip to the Loira Valley, even though I felt we had to rush through the castles, but now I have better idea of the types of castles that are in this region. I would love to return there in the future again, and maybe look at other castles.
