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.

France Trip Day 4: Château de Chenonceau

Our first stop today would be the Château de Chenonceau. I included the following two beautiful picture of the castle that I found on the internet, as our photos were marred by the scaffolding covering one part of the castle and construction vehicles working near the gardens.

Chenonceau is called the "Château of Ladies" due to the important role women played through its history. The castle in its present form was built in the early 1500s on the Cher River. Katherine Briçonnet, the wife of the owner, supervised much of its design and construction.

In 1535, King Francis I (a contemporary of Henry VIII of England) seized the castle from Briçonnet's son for unpaid debts to the Crown.

Walking through the park to the castle, we said hello to some ducks and a muskrat found in the stream along the path.

We thought someone in the department of French château maintenance had a brilliant idea when they had imprinted on the scaffolding material the part of the castle that was covered. It doesn't make for perfect photos, but it put a smile on our face to know that someone was trying to make us feel better about the whole thing.

The donjon (early word for castle keep and the word that inspired the English word dungeon), The Marques Tower.

Entering the castle our guidebook calls "the Jewel of the Loire."

Above the entrance door. The fire-breathing salamander was the badge of Francis I. The salamander was a symbol of enduring faith which triumphs over the fires of passion.

The hall just inside the entrance is covered with a series of rib vaults whose keystones, detached from each other, form a broken line. The baskets sculpted in the keystones are decorated with foliage and flowers. Made in 1515, it is one of the most beautiful examples of decorative sculpting from the French Renaissance period.

Above a doorway in the hall is a statue of St. John the Baptist, the patron saint of Chenonceau, as a child.

The Guards' Room, formerly the resting place of the castle's armed men responsible for royal protection, is now the place to go for your audioguide. European history is going high-tech. Chenonceau is just one of many historical places around Europe you can tour with the use of a rented ipod. The tour is loaded on the video ipod, which includes introductory music and photos to help you be sure you're in the right place. There is even a special children's edition of the tour featuring a ghost story to keep kids busy. It did make the touring experience quieter and less hectic as you can go at your own pace.

Here in a corner of the Guards' Room, you can see the original floor paint.

In 1533, King Francis I's son Henry II was married to the Italian Catherine de' Medici. Both were 14 years old. By the time Henry was fifteen years old, the beautiful widow, Diane de Poitiers, almost twenty years his senior, became his mistress, and once he was made king, Henry gave Diane Chenonceau. Henry adored the older Diane until the day he died at the age of 40 from injuries sustained in a jousting tournament. His wife Catherine, who despite her humiliation had not caused a fuss for 25 years, kicked Diane out of Chenonceau, but gave her the nearby Château de Chaumont in exchange.

The ceiling of the Guards' Room is painted with the symbol of Catherine, two-interlocking Cs.

Just off the Guards' Room is the Chapel. During the French Revolution, when many churches were being destroyed, it was saved thanks to the idea of the owner at that time, Madame Dupin, of turning it into a wood store.

Emilie learning about Diane's Garden.

The bedroom of Diane de Poitiers.

After Catherine banished the mistress Diane from the castle, she put her own portrait in Diane's bedroom and added the initials C and H to the fireplace, for Catherine and Henry.

As you leave Diane's bedroom, you see the initials of Catherine and Henry above the doorway. Look carefully. Do you what other initial is formed when you join the interlocking Cs and the H? The answer is found below.

The Gallery which spans the Cher River was first just a simple bridge built by Diane de Poitiers to have easier access to hunting grounds across the river. Catherine built the Gallery over Diane's bridge and used it as a ballroom. It is 60 meters long and 6 meters wide.

I was surprised that this woman was American. It seemed like such a French thing to do -- put your little pooches in a backpack so they can visit a château.

During World War I, the owner of Chenonceau set up, at his own expense, a temporary hospital, using all the rooms of the castle as wards for the sick. The gallery in particular was an important space in attending the wounded.

Between 1940 and 1942, the castle also had a remarkable situation. The entrance to the castle was on occupied territory, while the south gate across the river was in the free zone. Many resistant fighters entered one door and exited free on the other side, as if by miracle! Several prisoner exchanges also happened here.

The staircase leading to the first floor is remarkable because it is one of the first straight staircases – or banister on banister – built in France based on the Italian model, rather than on the the traditional spiral staircase model.

A painting of Diane de Poitiers as the goddess Diana the Huntress hangs in Francis I's bedroom. This portrait was painted when Diane was 57 years old.

The bedroom of Catherine de' Medici.

Learning about the Louis XIV living room.

View of the Marques Tower

The Five Queens' Bedroom, named in memory of Catherine de' Medici's two daughters and three daughters-in-law. Diane de Poitiers had encouraged Henry to have many children with Catherine. Her lover's wife caused Diane no problems and Diane didn't want there to be any need for Henry to seek out a new wife who may not prove to be as....understanding.

The bedroom of Louise de Lorraine one of Catherine's daughters-in-law. Following the assassination of her husband King Henry III by the monk Jacques Clément in 1589, Louise of Lorraine retired to Chenonceau in meditation and prayer. Surrounded by nuns who lived in the château as if in a convent, and always dressed in white in compliance with the etiquette of royal mourning, she was known as "the White Queen". Her bedroom is decorated all in black with mourning objects such as silver tears and crowns of thorns.

Down in the kitchens, this is the château's largest chimney. You can see the bread oven next to the fireplace. Chenonceau was the site of many grand parties throughout the centuries and the kitchens were surely bustling with activity. Supplies were brought down river and unloaded at kitchen doors that open up right onto the river itself.

Wouldn't you love to have this kitchen hutch? A place for everything....

During the First World War, the Renaissance kitchens were fitted with the modern equipment that was needed for the château to be transformed into a hospital.

View of the castle from Catherine de' Medici's garden.

Emilie thought this old house covered in vines, the Steward's house built in the 16th century, resembled Madeline's house.

Diane de Poitiers' Garden is beautiful (refer back to the second photo for a good view), but we preferred Catherine's smaller, more intimate garden.

This sphinx asked us no questions as we left the château courtyard.

A new maze, rebuilt exactly from Catherine de' Medici's plans, was opened recently.

It didn't take long for the kids to reach the center.

Resting their feet

David trying to figure out how to get back out again.

Finding inexpensive meals while traveling can take some doing. We were happy to find a lunch stand on our way back to the car and thoroughly enjoyed the French bread sandwiches (James' had hotdogs in it) and I even broke out a bag of Doritos and Cheetos.

Answer: D (for Diane de Poiters?)