France Trip Day 4: Chambord and Cheverny

After lunch, we drove through beautiful countryside and lost count of how many roundabouts we had to navigate through (more on that later) to the Château de Chambord, the largest château in the Loire. I was torn about what to do. You need to see Chambord because it is so massive, but the interior is pretty empty. Another nearby château, Cheverny, was fully furnished, much smaller, and if we got there in time, had an event every day at 5:00pm that is not to be missed. But we would miss it if we toured Chambord. Could the kids do three châteaux in one day? I had my doubts.

We arrived at the Chambord and immediately grumbled that we would have to pay to park. At no other time visiting a castle anywhere in Europe have we ever had to pay to park. Grumble, grumble....Then, they expected us to pay to use the restrooms which were located near the parking lot. That was common practice 20 years ago, but we have almost never had to pay to use a bathroom here in Europe..... grumble, grumble.

But the château is certainly striking. Built in the early 1500s by Francis I, this winter weekend hunting retreat took over 15 years to build. It has 440 rooms and a fireplace for every day of the year.

It turns out Francis only ever spent 40 days in the château.

My muse Emilie. She is the only child who jumps at a chance to be in a photo. Bless her heart.

As we gazed at the immense structure, we debated whether or not to pay the entrance fee to tour it. I said, "Well, we just toured a beautiful, fully furnished castle and it took longer than we thought it would. And, frankly, this castle looks like it could use a good scrubbing." And that did it. We oohed and aahed from the outside and decided to continue on to Cheverny. The kids did not complain.

We never went inside, but you can't talk about Chambord and not mention the famous staircase. It is believed that Leonardo da Vinci himself was consulted over Chambord's plans, and left his indelible mark on at least one of the château’s 13 grand staircases. The famed spiral staircase has two separate flights (with no connection between them) with numerous openings on the arms of the corridors.

Although it was devised for the king to have a better defense and escape means, the staircase was only used to prevent the king’s several mistresses from seeing one other.

On our way back to the car, James did an impression of Harry Potter being attacked by Hogwart's Whomping Willow.

Within just a few minutes, we found ourselves at the Château de Cheverny, built in the early 1600s. The exterior has not changed since. Unlike many other châteaux, Cheverny has always been occupied and the present owner, the Marquis de Vibraye, is a descendant of the man who first purchased the land on which the château would be built.

And just like at Guédelon and Chenonceau, we qualified for the "Famille nombreuse" group rate.

Before touring the château, we paid a visit to those other famous residents of Cheverny, the 70 Foxhound and Poitevin hunting dogs who were to provide some entertainment at 5:00pm.

At about 4:40, the dogs were ushered to the upper level of their kennel where they lounged around in the sun.

In the meantime, a worker spread huge chunks of raw meat in a straight line in the middle of the kennel floor.

And then somewhere, a clock began chiming. It was 5:00pm. And the dogs quickly got to their feet, charged the locked gate and began baying. The trainer prolonged their agony for a few minutes, then finally opened the gate.

The frantic dogs lined up along the tantalizing pieces of their delectable meal, but didn't touched it. They needed to wait for the whip-armed trainer to give the signal that they could dig in.

And he finally did.

The dogs go hunting for fox or deer twice a week.

Unfortunately, we can't upload the video we took that day to our blog (our camcorder has a bad jack), but here is a popular youtube video of the Cheverny dogs enjoying their dinner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZexPPDLXRA

When we were there, the dogs ate straight meat, no kibble like in the video, so the eating experience lasted quite a bit longer and ended with many yelps and growls as the dogs fought over the last chunks of meat.

The kids thought this was great and we felt we had made the right decision to skip Chambord.

Cheverny was the inspiration for the castle featured in the Belgian Tintin comic strips.

Steven Spielberg is currently putting the finishing touches on a 3-D movie The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, to be released in 2010.

A bust of Julius Ceasar sits high above the front door. Another interesting tidbit: The Mona Lisa was hidden here during World War II. The Marquis' family, by the way, lives on the third floor.

James taking a break in the vestible. Cheverny was spared by the French Revolution; the owners were popular then, as today, even among the village farmers. As a result, the château is well-furnished with furniture dating from the 1600s and all the sculptures kept their heads.

On the landing of the château’s main staircase is a Savoy suit of armor from the 16th Century, topped with the antlers of the Cervus Megaceros, a prehistoric ancestor of the elk and moose.

Upstairs are the former private apartments of the family. Here is the Bridal Chamber, featuring the wedding dress of the Marqise de Vibraye who married the Marquis in 1994.

The Yellow Room, known as the "birthing room," is where the mothers presented their newborn babies to the family.

The Children's Room

The Arms Room containing weapons from from the 15th-17th centuries.



In the King's Bedroom, a ceremonial bedroom in honor of the king and reserved for distinguished guests, James tugged on my arm and said that there were "inappropriate" paintings all over the place.

Paintings on the ceiling, fireplace and door depict the dramatic history of Perseus and Andromeda and there were many showing Perseus holding the head of the just-killed Medusa. James was shocked these disturbing images would be displayed as "art." He said, "What if little kids see this?"

I then pointed out to him this little detail on the ceiling.