For The Love of Travel

First stop was at the Château de Azay-le-Rideau, described by Balzac as “a facet cut diamond set in the Indre” and which epitomises all the elegance of the French Renaissance. 

Built in the 16thC during the reign of Francis 1, by his Treasurer, Gilles Berthelot. Actually Gilles was away a lot and many construction decisions were made by his wife Phillipa. Amazing tapestries and leadlight too.

Its on an islet between two arms of the Indre river, set in an 8 hectare landscaped park, composed of winding paths through copses and meadows. Numerous footbridges and small bridges span the river, allowing for perambulation around the chateau. This couple from England were doing all the hard work for their pup, Geordie 🙂

In 1791 the Biencourt family became the owners of the chateau, restoring and enhancing this masterpiece over 4 generations. Its been under State ownership since the early 1900’s.

Our next stop was just a few kilometres down the road – the Château de l’Islette, another 16thC riverside Renaissance castle in white limestone.

Designed by René de Maillé, with construction lasting from 1526 to 1530. During the French Revolution, the château was owned by Charles Tiercelin d’Apelvoisin, who served as a member of the 1789 Estates-General government and was executed by guillotine in 1793. Approximately a century later, in the 1890s, the château was a romantic setting for the tempestuous affair between famous sculptors Rodin and Camille Claudel, who frequently stayed at the castle for secret getaways.

Eventually, in the mid-1960s, the Château de l’Islette underwent major restoration by Pierre and Madeleine Michaud, whose family still owns the estate and resides there today. The castle has been open to the public for 5 months of the year, since 2010.

We arrived at Chinon in time to have a drink in the Place de Jean d’Arc before we checked into our boutique hotel. Very friendly reception by Mathieu.

Did a short walk to the river and droney took a few shots of the Royal Fortress of Chinon.  Situated on its rocky spur on the borders of Anjou, Touraine and Poitou, the Royal Fortress of Chinon reflects the most prestigious times of the Middle Ages. The last refuge of Henry II Plantagenet king of England, its thousand-year-old walls welcomed Eleanor of Aquitaine, Charles VII, Joan of Arc and Marie of Anjou during the major turning points of French history.

Dinner at La Bekaa, a Lebanese restaurant just up the road. Delish offerings and a cheeky bottle of red, Moroccan Boulaouane shared by us. A very hot night, tossing and turning, airless bedroom despite comfy bed. 

Our journey today took us first to Chédigny, the only village in France which has been certified with the label “Jardin Remarquable”. 

A very pretty village which has 1000 rose trees, 1500 bulbs plants, about a hundred bushes and thousands of perennial plants, which we explored while walking in the narrow streets of the village. Obviously, the best time to visit would be in spring, but we still got some colour. The transformation of the village started in 1998….the gardeners of Chédigny gradually improved their ranking in the “best flowered cities and villages contest” and were rewarded in 2019 with the most prestigious title: the golden flower!

A very grumpy and seemingly exhausted lad waiting for his sister’s baptism (we think). ‘Dressed to the nines’ as well 🙂

Next to Loches, classed as one of the most beautiful sites in France (“Plus Beaux Détours de France”) and a “Town of Art and History”. This citadel town, whose story goes back a thousand years, has an amazing medieval complex within its walls. We had the best coffee and hot chocolate before strolling around its paved streets, looking at Tuffeau stone façades and intertwined roofs. 

The town of Loches is connected to some of the great celebrities of French history: Agnès Sorel, “Lady of Beauty” and the first officially recognised mistress of a French king, Fulk III, AKA “the falcon”, fearsome warrior and indefatigable builder who commissioned the Donjon (castle’s keep). He was notorious for his cruelty and bloodthirstiness. He spent a considerable part of his life fighting his enemies, particularly Odo II, Count of Blois, his nemesis.

On the way to Montresor, we came across by surprise the impressive Chartreuse du Liget, built in 1180 by Henry II Plantagenet as penance for the murder of Thomas Becket. Droney did the hard work for us and took a pic of the estate including the ruins of the cloister and chapel. 

Montresor was our last stop. Terry and John visited the Chateaux of Montresor, while I launched droney again.  The château has seen 1000 years of history and is home to a big art collection. One of the chateau’s owners was Count Xavier Branicki, a famous Polish refugee exiled in France. Below, the river is like a mirror reflecting the château and the village houses.

The Halle des Cardeux has a free exhibition of ‘Gemmail’. Initiated in 1935 by Jean Crotti, and has been a technique adopted by Cocteau, Picasso, Gaugin, Modigliani and Braque to name a few.  My fave on show was by Shizuka Murayama, “Les Pavots (poppies)”:

Artists work on large sheets of glass placed on trestles and illuminate them from underneath, layering fragments of glass of varying degrees of thickness and different colors, depending on the tones and effect desired. These are temporarily stuck together using transparent glue, then checked and signed by the artist, and placed into a drying kiln where the glue is removed. Next, the fragments of glass are permanently attached to prepare for the final firing. The temperature of the final firing is increased slowly and carefully in order to avoid any damage to the piece, and the final cooling is also carefully controlled.

A ‘Gemmail’ is therefore essentially a translucent painting, transforming and modulating colour by capturing light through the many layers and textures of the glass.

On our way back to the car we saw an interesting marble face set into the wall of a building and a couple tending to their garden at day’s end (with a great view back to the old part of town).

Its been a wonderful and full day…. now off to dinner @ La Reserve, back at Amboise. I had pork loin with honey and mustard sauce. Yum!

We returned to see the Chenonceau chateaux in daylight and even though it is a slightly overcast day, this chateaux is still breathtaking. It was built in the 16thC on the foundations of an old mill and was later extended to span the river, the bridge being designed by the French Renaissance architect Philbert de l’Orme. An architectural mix of late Gothic and early Renaissance, it’s the most visited châteaux in France.

A potted history of ownership……..In 1555, the mistress of Henry II, Diane de Poitiers, oversaw the planting of the extensive vegetable and flower gardens along with a variety of fruit trees. Set along the banks of the river, but buttressed from flooding by stone terraces, the exquisite gardens were laid out in 4 triangles. After years of delicate legal manoeuvring, she also took possession/ownership of the châteaux.

Henry’s widow, Catherine de Medici, in the following year, forced Diane to exchange it for Château Chaumont…Queen Catherine then made Chenonceau her own favourite residence, adding a new series of gardens.

The Bourbons in the 17thC had little interest in the châteaux except for hunting, with the castle contents being sold and statues ending up at Versailles.

In the 18thC, Claude Dupin purchased the estate and his wife, Louise established a literary salon that attracted leaders from the ‘Enlightenment’ such as Voltaire and Fontenelle. She saved the chateaux from destruction during the French revolution arguing it was “essential to travel and commerce, being the only brieg across the river for miles”. Made sense to the Revolutionary Guard!

In 1894 Marguerite Pelouze, a rich heiress acquired the châteaux commissioning a restoration of the interior. Jose-Emilio Terry, a Cuban millionaire, acquired it from Marguerite, then sold it to Henri Menier, a member of the Menier family, famous for their chocolates, who own it to this day.

Terry and John explored the interior of the chateaux and gardens while I went to explore Saint-Aignan, another charming medieval town in the Cher river valley at the crossroads of 3 provinces (Touraine, Orleans and Berry).

Lots of half-timbered houses, cobble-stone alleyways and the collegiate church, with its frescoes from the 12th and 14thC.

Montrichaud was our last stop for the day – we had a fantastic afternoon tea from Richard Chateigner patisserie and chocolaterie !