Loire Valley

Three chateaux starting with “Ch…” Once again we were thwarted by closed camp grounds- earlier than indicated in our guides, but anyway we found a site slightly further away than we had anticipated. A revised schedule found us riding bikes from the little town of Bracieux through the Chambord forest to arrive at the biggest and grandest of the chateaux in the Loire Valley. Architecturally ( and I know what I’m talking about here), Chambord is immense. Double helix staircases spiral and intertwine but never meet, in the main foyer. This was probably a Da Vinci design but is not confirmed. It does however mean that the local brewery makes an excellent amber beer called “Leonardo”. Back to Chambord- the self-guided tour means you can go at your own pace and enjoy the spectacular views of the surrounding forest estate and parklands. The terraces, turrets and domes create a magical silhouette. We enjoyed our own little “picnique” in the grounds and felt like “wealthy land owners”. Even the drop of Italian red wine out of a little “popper” container was excellent.

Our second chateau was Chaumont, situated just above the banks of the Loire River, with a commanding view across the sandy banks and north and south. Perfect to thwart enemies – except for that rather large open section at the back near the stables and gardens. Chaumont is a fairytale shape and has a drawbridge, dungeon and courtyard. It also holds temporary art exhibitions in its many spare rooms. We had the chateau to ourselves and loved it’s intimacy. The furnishings were regal but not overdone and the views out of the windows were lovely- forested parklands and river views. The stables were actually very grand and it appears horses had a pretty good lifestyle – bathing and feeding zones, nice warm shelter, views…

The vegetable garden was impressive and we were also happy to partake in a free degustation of an autumn harvest menu- mostly ingenious combinations, for eg. pumpkin (with caramel sauce), carrot (cake), beetroot ( with cheese), savoury pears (poires de terre). Delicious. The exhibitions of produce were also excellent and displayed the pride the French take in their food. Yes, this was all out the back of the chateau.

Cheneonceaux is probably the best known chateau. It’s arched building straddles the Cher River and it’s formal gardens, and forested area are well-known. The car-park at 4.00pm in the afternoon provided a strong hint that it was going to be busy. It was a Saturday, the French were on holidays, the weather had been good. It started to rain , the crowds remained. Quite a few tourist buses, but generally lot’s of families out for the day. In the gardens it was quite nice but inside the chateau it was wall to wall. The furnishings were impressive if you like that sort of thing- generally over-the-top, lot’s of gold, glass, tiles and portraits. The history of Chenonceaux is actually quite interesting and makes the visit worthwhile. The downstairs servants area and kitchen was well-equipped and an interesting diversion from all that glitter.

Fontainbleaue Chateau is 60km south of Paris. A huge forest estate and park land free for all to go for a walk and wander and wish. Unfortunately the late afternoon rainfall came in right on time and our wander was cut short. The interior tour of the chateaux was free today because it was the first Sunday of the month. This meant that there were possibly even more people interested in history than normally. Large family groups shuffled along following the signs from room to room. They gazed in amazement at the ridiculous amount of decorating that went into ceilings, walls and bedheads and took 10 photos per room with their mobile phone cameras or their SLR cameras with the 40cm lens. The first 10 or so rooms were very impressive and the art work, craftsmanship and quality of the furnishings were amazing. After that the views through the windows to the rain-soaked courtyards and gardens looked increasingly inviting. It became just a bit too much. I think I enjoyed the structure of the buildings and the landscape more than the interior extravaganza.

Unfortunately, the 60km trip to Paris on a rainy Sunday evening took three and a half hours and by the time we reached the camp ground at the Bois de Boulogne we were exhausted. For about 30 mins top speed on the freeway reached 6km/hr. The secondary roads were also clogged- roadwork and weekend traffic causing mayhem. Fun, fun, fun. Still… We’re in Paris now.