Chenonceau and Blois

Today was a full day.  I woke up at 7:00 and had breakfast at my hotel in Langeais.  The hostess was very nice and gave me a free jar of their establishment’s blackberry jam.  If you are ever looking for a place to stay along the Loire, I can’t recommend Hotel Errard enough. 

I caught the 8:30 train to Tours and a subsequent train to Chenonceaux.  The name of the château there is pronounced the same, but is spelled without the “x” at the end of the word.  Chenonceau is probably one of the most famous châteaux in France.  It has a covered bridge that forms a hall for entertaining guests that spans the river it sits on. The castle was built by Thomas Bohier and his wife Katherine Briçonnet, and after their deaths, it came into possession of the French State.  King Henri II gave it to his favorite mistress, Diane de Poitiers in 1547.  After the death of the king, his widow Catherine de Medici gave Diane the boot (to reside in another elegant château) and lived there herself.  It has also been inhabited by an outstanding number of people of historical importance.  Mary queen of Scots lived there for a number of years; her Scottish guards made two graffiti inscriptions into the walls of the chapel, which can still be viewed today: “Man’s ire does not accomplish the justice of God” and “Do not let yourself be won over by Evils.”  Apparently the chapel was saved from destruction during the Revolution due to the château’s owner disguising it as wood storage.  There are a number of great tapestries and paintings present in the château.  It has had a rich history right up to the present day.  During World War One, the owner opened up the château as a hospital and during the Second World War, Chenonceau sat on the demarcation line between Nazi-occupied northern France and Southern “independent” Vichy France.  Because its bridge spanned the line, the French Resistance was able to use it to covertly cross the border at will, smuggling hundreds of people to safety in the south.  Chenonceau also has incredible gardens, one constructed for Diane de Poitiers and the other for Catherine de Medici.  Both were in full bloom and the scent was incredible.  Chenonceau might be the best smelling château that I’ve visited, as there were fresh flowers in every room that apparently get replaced every day.

I caught another train to Blois, from which I will set out tomorrow to see Chambord, the other “must-see” château of the Loire.  While in town today, I saw the château in Blois.  It was used as the royal residence by several kings of France, until Louis XIII exiled his mother Marie de Medici there until her death (she may have deserved it, read Alexandre Dumas’s Twenty Years After).  After her death, Louis XIII gave the castle to his brother Gaston d’Orléans as a wedding present.  The bar is set, Matt.  During the July Monarchy in mid-nineteenth century, the chateau underwent immense and much needed restoration.  Today, it is owned by the city of Blois.  The city itself underwent some pretty drastic changes during the 1800s, losing a famous church near the chateau, which was replaced by some manufacturing facility.  In 1940, the city suffered from Allied bombing raids seeking to destroy some key bridges.  This bombing raid, strangely enough, flattened the factory that had replaced the church.  Taking it as a sign of divine retribution, the space now stands empty, with flower gardens marking the bounds of the ancient church.  The rest of the space is used as a little walk with benches looking out over the city in the shadow of the chateau.  It was in this flower garden that I sat, biding my time until dinner.  I heard at least two churches and a cathedral ringing in the 7:00 hour.  It was very pleasant.