Chateau visits

There are so many Chateau to see in the Loire that we had to make a list of our top choices. We narrowed it down to Amboise, Blois, Chambord, Chenonceau and Villandry. They were all beautiful and all had something that set them apart from each other. We had left Friday open so we didn't have anything on the schedule and decided to see Chateau du Clos Luce as well.

Amboise was easy to see since it was about a 5 minute walk from our house rental. The view of the chateau from the river is very impressive. I wondered about it though since it only seemed to have this one side. How could it be considered this great Chateau if it only had the one side? It almost seemed like it was fake. Don't get me wrong, the Chateau is still bigger than anything I
would ever live in. When we walked up to the
chateau (and I do mean up! As you can see from the picture the chateau is far above the houses below it.) and paid our entrance and then got our visitors guide I realized that there was a lot more to the Chateau than what we were currently seeing. Apparently a majority of the Chateau had been destroyed. They have made the grounds beautiful and it is very peaceful walking around the Chateau.







Blois seemed a little blah to me. I'm not sure what it was about the building but it just didn't amaze me. It was pretty but the multiple sides were built at different times and didn't really match each other. It was also raining when we were there which may have added to the drabness for me. It did have really cool drain spouts (pic) though. The interior rooms where pretty and it is amazing how big the fireplaces where in these "houses". Sofia had fun standing in all the fireplaces to see how big there were. The size of the fireplace became something we checked out in every chateau.




Chambord Chateau was amazingly large. I wanted a picture of the whole building and I had to walk quite a way back before I could capture it all in my camera. The grounds were extensive although we only viewed then from the roof of the chateau since the kids were tired. The central part of the chateau was not really decorated so it wasn't beautiful (although still interesting) but in the center there is a really cool staircase. It is a double-spiral open staircase. I will try my best to describe it...there are two staircases that sprial up around each other for three floors but they never meet. There are openings in the inner wall of the staircase so you can see a person on the opposite staircase but you can't actually reach them. It was fun for us and the kids. Jason took Sofia and I took Ali and we went on the opposite stairs and stopped at every window to see each other and wave.

In one wing of the chateau was the Royal apartments. These were decorated and were quite pretty. The girls kept asking about the King and Queen's bed. They enjoyed seeing the massive beds. I had to explain that back when the King and Queen were living here they slept in separate beds. After they got their heads around that they wanted to know if a bed was the King or Queen's. It was very cute.




Chenonceau is another beautiful Chateau. When we first arrived, I thought, "that's it?" It didn't seem nearly as impressive as the pictures in the books and after seeing Chambord it seemed tiny. We went into the Chateau and it was beautifully decorated. I was beginning to get more impressed. We went down to the kitchens which were also beautiful but it made you think about what life was like for the servants. It must have been dark before they had electricity. At least the walls were a light stone so that lightened it up some. The bedrooms in the Chateau were beautiful and there were so many that were decorated. The girls loved seeing all the "king and Queen's" beds. I started to explain that all the beds weren't for Kings and Queens but it didn't matter. In the girls' minds the beds were either a bed for a King or a Queen. Once we had seen the inside we headed out to see the gardens. This is were the wonder of Chenonceau is seen. All pictures in books are shot from the side view. The side view is where you see that the chateau is built out over the river Cher. I knew the chateau did this and saw it from inside as well since we walked in the gallery which is the part of the chateau that extends across the river but it is one thing to know something and another to see it up close.
We finished up our time at Chenonceau with a walk through the gardens and then finally a trip into the maze. The girls really enjoyed doing the maze and finding our way to the gazebo in the center and then back out again.


Villandry had the BEST gardens I have ever seen. The gardens just went on and on. The pictures just don't do it justice. The gardens are so large that you can't capture all of it in one picture. The pic on the left and below are of the kitchen/vegetable gardens. These are the first gardens you see upon entering the chateau grounds. It is a bit overwhelming to see it. I wasn't sure which path to take since it was all beautiful. We pretty much followed where the kids went. There were fountains throughout the gardens and that is what they liked so they ran from fountain to fountain. We will get more pictures up on smugmug so you can see the herb garden, the maze, the garden of love and the water garden. The girls had a blast running through the shrub maze. We took different paths (the girls with at least one adult) and tried to race each other out of the maze. The girls loved it and it was fun for us too!

Chateau Du Clos Luce was interesting to see. It is the house where Leonardo Da Vinci lived in Amboise. I have to admit that I really had no interest in visiting this Chateau but Jason wanted to go. I'm happy that we went. I had no idea that Leonardo Da Vinci had invented so many things! The house itself was nothing special and in the world of McMansions it wasn't that huge but it was interesting to see all his inventions that were displayed in the house as well as outside on the grounds. After walking through the house we headed outside to walk around the grounds. It was fun for all of us to play with some of Leonardo Da Vinci's inventions. This picture is of Jason and the girls playing in Leonardo's tank. We climbed over some of the bridges he invented as well as played with his invention of a pump. It was a beautiful day when we visited this Chateau so it was nice to walk around the grounds.