Blois has a distinctly different personality shortly after sunrise. The lively
and noisy boulevard that winds through the heart of the old town is lonely and
quiet. The taverns and restaurants are closed and the tourists are asleep at
their hotels.
The sky was cloudy and the air was chilly, but the rain had finally decided to harass
tourists elsewhere in Europe. Although we did not know it at the time, we would not
be bothered by rain for the remainder of the trip. The Autumn colors, unnoticed the
previous evening, now seemed unrestrained in their flamboyance. On this quiet Fall
morning, Blois seemed to represent everything about France that we traveled so far
to see.
Driving along the path that we walked several times the previous evening, we
crossed the Pont Gabriel and turned onto highway D951, which runs alongside
the most famous river in France. Our objective was one of the most popular chateaus
in the Loire Valley— Chambord.
History of the Loire Valley
As the longest river in France, the Loire was a major transportation route before
the advent of the railroad. The landscape of the Loire Valley is an interesting
synthesis of cultural and geological forces. Towns that predate the reign of Charlemagne
are surrounded by fields that have been cultivated even longer. Uninterrupted
agricultural development over such a timespan has gradually modified the shape of
the land. Huge deforested tracts, transected by ancient irrigation canals, are a
common feature of the valley. In places, such as Chambord, indigenous forests were
spared the peasant's axe only because of the fondness of the French nobility
for hunting.
This valley was the geographic center of political power during the French
Renaissance, the formative period immediately preceding the entry of France
onto the global stage. During the most prosperous days of the Loire Valley,
France was beginning to exert considerable influence throughout western Europe.
The numerous châteaux, or palaces, scattered throughout the valley,
are a testament to the political and economic significance of the region.
Eventually, we parted ways with the historic river and turned north on highway
D84 directly toward the largest and most popular of the Loire Valley chateau,
Chambord— a palace so famous that we have a jigsaw puzzle of it back home.
The Château de Chambord, a massive Renaissance-era royal complex,
is not directly along the Loire, it is actually on the Cosson, a small tributary
of the legendary river. Chambord is one of the most popular tourist attraction
in the Loire Valley.
Château de Chambord
We easily found our way into one of the huge parking lots, which this time of year
was mostly empty. It was very chilly, and even with our warm coats, we couldn't
refuse the hot chocolate and waffles at the Crêperie Solognote on the
Place Saint-Louis, just outside the palace.
Chambord is located within the Sologne Forest, a wooded area popular with hunters
and anglers. Although the only wildlife we observed were birds, the forest
surrounding Chambord is full of deer and wild boar, reminiscent of the days of
Francois I and the royal hunt. This location was originally a hunting lodge that was
transformed, at tremendous expense, into the city-like palace that we were about to
visit.
The Château de Chambord consists of 440 rooms, 365 fireplaces (each with
its own chimney), and more than 80 staircases, including the famous double-spiraled
Grand Staircase, allegedly designed by Leonardo da Vinci. The roof terraces
contain dozens of spires, turrets, and cupolas, which, from a distance, bear some
resemblance to a city skyline. The complexity of Chambord is so great that the sister
of Francois I once complained that she constantly lost her way in the maze of rooms
and corridors. Of all French royal residences, Chambord is second in size only to
the much younger palace of Versailles near Paris. The stone wall enclosing the
13,000 acre royal game reserve that surrounds Chambord is nearly 20 miles long and
the longest in France.
The natural course of the River Cosson does not pass within view of Chambord. This
small body of water was artificially redirected on the orders of Francois I. His
engineers persuaded him that his original plan, a diversion of the larger and more
distant Loire, was simply not feasible.
Architecturally, Chambord is a synthesis of French Gothic and Italian Renaissance.
The Gothic element is evident in the corner towers, the flying buttresses that
support the central spire, and the overall layout, which conforms to the standard
plan of a medieval castle with an interior courtyard. In some sense, the Renaissance
element is most pronounced in what is absent. Chambord is a luxurious palace rather
than a military stronghold. By the time that Chambord was constructed, advances in
artillery weapons rendered massive fortresses obsolete. By the 16th
century, the rulers of France were obviously more concerned about comfort and
opulence than security.
A careful look at Chambord from a distance reveals that the palace facade is not
perfectly symmetrical. This may have been intended as a symbolic gesture to the
religious belief that nothing of the earth can be perfect, but considering that the
Château de Chambord is almost entirely secular in nature, there is no
royal chapel for example, architectural taste is a more plausible explanation.
Modern architectural tastes tend to regard excessive symmetry as uninteresting
and visually boring.
For a few Euros apiece, we toured the palace, which was uncomfortably cold.
Virtually all of the rooms were large and empty, much as they would have been
during the frequent periods when the, surprisingly nomadic, royal entourage was
on the move. When they returned to Chambord, the staff would quickly install the
furniture and hang the tapestries. When they left, all these furnishing went with
them. Many "furnished" European palaces and castles are filled with modern
reproductions that are interspersed with the occasional genuine antique. Chambord
was simply empty.
A list of residents and visitors to Chambord reads like an unabridged history of the
French Renaissance. In addition to the obvious association with Francois I, the
palace was a favorite of the extravagant Sun King, Louis XIV. Although
Leonardo da Vinci died shortly after construction of Chambord began, as a principal
confidant of Francois I, the palace was certainly on his mind during the final years
of his life. A pair of shadowy figures observing the stars from the rooftop terraces
may well have been Catherine de Medici and her personal astrologer, Nostradamus.
Perhaps Chambord's finest evening was a sumptuous feast held in honor of a visit
from the most powerful Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V.
Although the contents of Chambord were looted during the Revolution, the palace
itself was spared the fate shared by so many other structures associated with the
aristocracy and was not demolished. During the century immediately following the
Revolution, France was indecisive about the legitimacy of the monarchy and the role
that it should play in the affairs of state. During this period, the Château
de Chambord was passed back and forth between a number of powerful citizens and
descendants of the French throne. Many, if not most, of these proprietors could not
afford the enormous expenses associated with maintaining the property, and it was
acquired by the state in 1932. Surprisingly, modern restoration efforts did not begin
until the 1970's.
Château de Chenonceau
Like the itinerant 16th century royal retinues, we were not content with
a single palace. Our next destination was the Château de Chenonceau,
allegedly the finest extant example of French Renaissance architecture, as well as
the most scenic of Loire Valley chateaus. Known for its Grande Galerie, a
180-foot wing that literally spans the River Cher, Chenonceau is the second most
popular French chateau. Only Versailles receives more visitors.
Unlike some other regions of France, the Loire Valley is well signposted, probably a
result of an exceptional number of tourists in a country that is the most popular
tourist destination in the world. Whatever the reason, we had no problems finding the
Château de Chenonceau. Blois is directly between the two chateaus and so
we passed through this now-familiar town on the way to Chenonceau.
From the parking area, the chateau is approached through a long double lane of trees
that merge above literally forming a living tunnel of leaves and branches.
Les Château des Dames
Chenonceau is sometimes referred to as Les Château des Dames, or "The
Chateau of the Ladies," because of the role that several prominent aristocratic
women, and their legendary jealousies, played in its development. The initial
construction of Chenonceau was effectively supervised by the wife of a powerful
official in the court of Francois I. Following the death of the owners, the palace
became a property of the royal estates in payment for some questionable debts.
Several decades later, the successor to Francois I, Henri II, presented the chateau
as a gift to his notorious mistress Diane de Poitiers, twenty years his senior.
Allegedly the palace was in reward for the services of her late husband to the
crown, but no one, including Henri's formidable wife, Catherine de Medici was
deceived by this legality. The magnificent gardens of Chenonceau are the legacy
of Diane de Poitiers.
In 1559, Henri was accidentally killed in a jousting tournament, an event
allegedly predicted by Nostradamus. As as regent for her underage son, the
future Henri III, Catherine de Medici became the effective ruler of France.
The vengeful widow lost no time in evicting her former rival in the attentions
of her husband from the palace at Chenonceau. Although Catherine initially
resented the chateau due to its association with Diane, she gradually developed quite
an affection for the place. Her greatest legacy was the extension of the palace over
the River Cher, known as the Grand Gallery. The bedrooms of both women can be
visited during a tour of the chateau. The greatest memorial to these historic
antagonists are the magnificent gardens, appropriately separated by a moat, named
Jardin de Diane de Poitiers and Jardin de Catherine de Medici.
Admirers of the Château de Chenonceau owe an additional debt to two other
women that played a very different role in the history of the palace. Madame Dupin, a
close acquaintance of Voltaire and Rousseau, was the proprietress of Chenonceau at
the time of the French Revolution. Although a member of the beseiged elitist class,
the peasants of the region had a great affection for her, and her magnificent
chateau, unlike so many other symbols of pre-Revolutionary privilege, survived the
civil unrest intact. She is buried in the palace gardens. Another benefactor of
Chenonceau was Madame Pelouze, who purchased the property in 1864 and devoted the
remainder of her life to its preservation and restoration.
During the Second World War, the property of Chenonceau straddled the border between
occupied France and quasi-indepedent Vichy France. The chateau was slightly damaged
during an air raid near the end of the conflict. Today, unlike Chambord, Chenonceau
is privately owned. Since 1913, it has been in the possession of the Menier family
of chocolate fame.
After spending a few hours at Chenonceau, it was time to head back to Blois and
prepare for our drive to the Dordogne the next morning. Originally, we had planned
to visit a third chateau on this day, but time was short and the small chateau
of Azay-le-Rideau would have to wait for another visit to the Loire Valley.
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