Destination: Châteaux de la Loire, France

Around this time last year, I spent the weekend visiting the famous châteaux de la Loire in central France. Of course, with some odd, one hundred châteaux scattered all over the region, it would be impossible to see them all– that said, I saw a few of them and it made my short getaway worthwhile.

Known for being the former homes of French royal families that date back to the 16th century, these châteaux not only serve as paradigms of Renaissance architecture, but also incredible tourist hot spots for day tours from Paris, as it’s only an hour to 90 minutes away. I’d seen my fair share of château in the Ile-de-France region (Versailles, Fontainebleau), but up until then, I hadn’t seen those along the Loire River. As a result, I was keen on making the trip over, especially while I had the chance of being *relatively* close to do so (aka Normandy region).

As I mentioned, the châteaux are a popular day tour from Paris and many people often go with guided tours (that said, if they have the money)– otherwise, people rent cars to get from château to château, as they are quite spread out from each other in the countryside. Considering that I neither had the money to pay for a 100€ day tour nor the experience of driving a manual car, I searched for a *more-affordable* option– what I found was a seasonal bus circuit that went to four châteaux for 6€. Even though it didn’t include admission fees to each château, let alone visited the most-famous ones, it was still an incredible deal, so I decided to go for it!

First, I had to get to Paris in order to head down to the centre of France, as trains only connected at the capital. From my small town in Normandy, I took the train to Paris and spent one night Couchsurfing with a Parisian in the 11ème arrondissement before waking up super early to catch the train to Blois from Gare d’Austerlitz at 7:30. Train arrived in town just a bit past 9:00 and from there I headed to the bus circuit stop, where I paid, got on the bus, and headed to the first château of the day.

Château Royal de Blois

The bus ride over to the château Royal de Blois literally took two minutes, but all the same I arrived in front of the entrance and, after paying the admission fee (8€), I spent the first half of the morning visiting its interior.

History has it that the château Royal de Blois had belonged to King Louis XIII, before being passed over to Gaston d’Orléans, his brother. In fact, it was a gift given to him, and I can’t imagine being given a present as big as an entire château for yourself! The place is especially famous for containing four different architectural styles– medieval, Gothic, Renaissance, and Classical– having been built over a course of almost four centuries. While strolling through the courtyard and the colorfully-tiled interior rooms, I found the château aesthetically-pleasing.

Outside was a terrace upon which I could get lovely, rooftop views of Blois and the Loire River. It happened to be a sunny and surprisingly-warm day, which made for a great start to the rest of the day’s visit.

Château de Chambord

Probably one of the most-famous châteaux in the Loire valley (and the most-famous during my visit), the château de Chambord is distinctive in that its the largest one in the region, along with the fact that it has never been completed since the 16th century when it’d been the hunting lodge of King Francis I. Considering that it’s the most well-recognized château, I was especially looking forward to visiting it.

Upon arriving at the entrance just a bit past noon, I was fortunate that I didn’t have to pay the admission fee with my then-Pass Education (as I’d been a teaching assistante then, which entitled me to free passes on several landmarks and museums all over France). Made the visit even sweeter, as I spent some time exploring the various floors of the interior– most of it is barren, as it’d been cleared out over the centuries, but several elaborate tapestries remained, along with the recognizable double-helix staircase that’s a pleasure to the eyes.

Heading up to the top floor outside, I got gorgeous views of the courtyard below, along with the sweeping countryside as far as the eye could see. I descended to check out the gardens, which were meticulously-styled with several fleur-de-lys motifs in the hedges (of course, you know that it’s France when you have fleur-de-lys designs!). Also took a photo of the château itself, although the lighting wasn’t optimal that time of day…at least there’s photo-editing features to help out!

Château de Cheverny

Following was that of château de Cheverny: again, I caught the circuit bus over, getting into Cours-Cheverny in the early afternoon. From the bus stop, it was about a 15 to 20-minute walk to the château. 

Upon arriving at the entrance, I opted not to visit the interior and instead just wander the grounds. Even though not as famous as Chambord, the château de Cheverny is still a notable tourist draw, as it’s known for being the inspiration of the château de Moulinsart in the Belgian comic book The Adventures of Tintin, as well as its dozens of hunting beagles!

Really, just adjacent to the Tintin-inspired museum, there was a kennel that was absolutely filled with dozens upon dozens of hunting beagles, which at that time were taking an afternoon nap. Surprised me for sure but, being a dog lover, I couldn’t help but “aww” at the sight of it all. Just before leaving, I popped into the jardin potager, a garden which happened to be bursting with pink, yellow, and white flowers– surely, springtime had arrived!

Château de Beauregard

The final château of the day was the château de Beauregard. I caught the 16:00 bus over and was dropped off in front of the ticket office/souvenir shop. It was about 10€ for admission, and I set off for the château itself. I had to go through the estate’s sweeping garden, filled with arching trees, some small ponds, and the occasional grazing sheep on the side– no big deal.

The château de Beauregard is a small manor house that’d been bought by Jean du Thiers, the Secretary of State to King Henri II in the 16th century. Today, people actually still live inside the manor, all the while being open to the public for guided tours through the small, but elegant rooms.

I joined the 17:00 tour, and I spent the next 90 minutes learning about the history of the château, as well as walking through the Galeries des Illustres, which is presumably the largest gallery of portraits in Europe to this day. In total, there are 327 portraits of nobility throughout the centuries, all of which line the elegantly-decorated walls. What was especially interesting was that the ceiling, a dominantly-blue color, had been painted using lapis, one of the most sought-after minerals in the world.

After viewing the old-fashioned stone kitchen, the guided tour ended, and I headed back out to catch the bus around 18:30 to return to Blois, and from there I caught the train to Paris– had to transfer at Orléans and I arrived back at Gare d’Austerlitz at 21:40. The next (and last) train back to Normandy wouldn’t be until 23:50, so I just hung around the station (Gare Saint-Lazare) before catching it and returning to town around 1:00. Upon arriving back at my flat, I showered, freshened up, and turned in by 2:00, utterly exhausted.

It’d been an intense weekend visiting a new part of France, but all the same, I was glad to have seen a glimpse of several châteaux in the Loire valley. They were all that an architecture lover (like me) would want, all the while the transport being an incredible deal (really, 6€!). The châteaux de la Loire are really worth the visit, as you get to see a bit more of French culture and history in front of your eyes.

Thanks for reading– à bientôt!

 

— Rebecca