Castle Hopping Part 2

On Thursday, July 11, it was back to castles. This time we headed 30 minutes east to the town of Amboise, where we were able to explore two chateaux of interest with no extra driving involved.

The Royal Chateau of Amboise perches on a rocky spur high above the Loire.

Town and river below, chateau and its gardens with a bird's eye view above.

For centuries, the fortresses on the site were owned by high-level nobles, but not royalty. This ended in the early 15th century when the Chateau d'Amboise was confiscated for the crown by Charles VII. His successor, Louis XI--in the great tradition of new homeowners everywhere--started renovating and "adding on." Then, in 1470, our next encounter with Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany takes place, with the birth of Charles in the chateau. When Charles married Anne in 1491, he set up court in his childhood home. Under his oversight, building extensions kicked into high gear--and then disaster struck in 1498.

This non-descript hole in the ground is what remains of a
trench that linked two of the existing lodges of the chateau. On
April 7, 1498, Charles and Anne were taking the trench to watch
a game of real tennis (an indoor variation that pre-dates modern
lawn tennis) when he struck his head on a door lintel. Within
a few hours he was dead at the tender age of 28.

The chateau was occupied by successive kings who made further additions. However, during the reign of Henri IV in the mid-17th century, the royal court was moved to Paris and the decline of the property began. In the French Revolution, the chateau was confiscated, suffered a fire, and was systematically demolished. The chateau that remains today is a shadow of its former self.

Upper: Amboise in the 16th Century at the time of Catherine
de Medici. Lower: the chateau as it exists today.

It may not be as grand as it once was, but the Royal Lodge still impresses.

Left: the music room, with 19th century furnishings.
Right: Lon in the Coat of Arms gallery, the former passage for foot soldiers.

The town of Amboise as seen from the ramparts wall.

One aspect of the history of Amboise that attracts attention today is that Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life in the town when King Francois I became da Vinci's patron in 1516, appointing him "First Painter, Engineer, and Architect to the King." He is purportedly buried on the grounds of the Royal Chateau.

The St. Hubert Chapel, constructed in 1493. Maybe/probably
the burial place of Leonardo da Vinci. 

King Francois I granted da Vinci the privilege of being buried on the chateau grounds, and the original site of his tomb was the St. Florentin collegiate church, which was demolished between 1806 and 1810. In 1863, excavations were undertaken, and a skeleton was found close to a tombstone bearing fragments of da Vinci's name. Eleven years later, the bones were transferred to the St. Hubert Chapel.

The tomb inside the chapel. I wonder if any current
relatives could be tracked down to attempt some DNA
typing as confirmation of identity--but perhaps no
one wants to open that possible can of worms.

Until his death in 1519, da Vinci was allowed to live at our second Amboise chateau of the day, Clos Lucé. Called Chateau du Cloux until the 17th C, the fortified castle was bought by Charles VIII (he was busy in his short reign!) to be a summer house for French kings. When da Vinci arrived in 1516, he came bearing his manuscripts and three paintings, among them, the Mona Lisa. During the three years until his death, he kept busy with various architectural and civic building projects.

The chateau itself is but a small part of what is a true da Vinci museum that includes the chateau; the large, attached park; and several associated buildings. It is privately owned by a family that has had possession since 1854, and the current generation has created an extremely professional product.

View of the chateau, and in the foreground, a life-size model
of one of da Vinci's inventions (the surrounding park was an
outdoor display area for many models of his various inventions.)

The da Vinci bedchamber, site of his death in 1519.

Artwork in the small on-site oratory (chapel) that
Charles VIII had built for Anne of Brittany. During their
time in Amboise, it was a place for her to mourn the 
deaths of her children.

Leonardo da Vinci's drawing workshop (left) and library (right).

The basement had several rooms filled with small models of inventions
proposed by da Vinci. Many of these same items were reproduced in 
life size in the park adjacent to the chateau.

The town of Amboise itself was rather nice. Somewhat "touristy" in the areas closest to the chateaux, but with a good shopping street leading to the Romanesque Collegiate Church of Saint Denis.

Although the Church of Saint Denis has had several alterations over the years, it still
holds on to many of its 12th century Romanesque elements.

Also interesting were the homes built into the limestone cliffs of the town. Throughout the ages in the Loire Valley, and not just in Amboise, the limestone cliffs were a source of building materials for the many chateaux in the region. Caves created by the removal of the limestone quarried for building have been put to a number of uses, including wine storage and residences. One article estimated there could be as many as 45,000 cave homes in the Loire Valley. (This is not a new concept for Lon and me. Our hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota had a number of man-made caves in the sandstone cliffs near the Mississippi River. One of these caves, now known as the "Wabasha Street Caves," was used as a speakeasy in the 1920's, said to have been frequented by gangsters such as John Dillinger.) 

One of the "Troglodyte Cave Homes" in Amboise.

We left Tours at 8 a.m. on Friday, July 12, destination Chenonceau. We'd purchased advance tickets for a 9:15 entry and wanted to be there in plenty of time. Our decision on Monday to delay our visit to Chenonceau paid off--we were the 2nd car into the parking lot and the 2nd couple to enter the castle grounds when it opened at 9 a.m. Ah, bliss! We were able to see most of the interior rooms with little or no other people. Our experience would have been totally different an hour later.

Left: the main entry hallway at Chenonceau--beautiful Renaissance ceiling work and no people.
Right: the crowds we passed on our way out of the chateau an hour later.

The Chateau de Chenonceau was absolutely beautiful. We'd seen the photos with its gallery built across the River Cher, but it was amazing to see it in person.

Looking across Catherine de Medici's garden to the chateau. The current chateau took the place
of a fortified castle and mill in the early 16th century. The Marques Tower at left is what remains of the
medieval castle.

The Chateau of Chenonceau is known as "The Ladies' Chateau" because its history is intertwined with so many ladies of significance. Built by Thomas Bohier, France's Finance Minister (with construction largely overseen by his wife, Katherine Briconnet), it was seized by King Francois I from Bohier's son in 1535 for non-payment of debts. When Henry II ascended to the throne in 1547, he gifted the chateau to his favorite mistress, Diane de Poitiers. It was she who added the initial bridge over the River Cher, as well as spectacular gardens.

But "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," so when Henry died in 1559 of injuries received in a jousting tournament, his widow, Catherine de Medici, was quick to force Diane de Poitiers out of Chenonceau. Catherine ruled as Regent for her young son from Chenonceau, added galleries to the bridge, and created gardens of her own. 

The galleries: the upper gallery was a magnificent ballroom; the lower gallery now houses
a collection of paintings, tapestries, furniture, and pieces of art. The south door of the lower gallery
provided access to the "left bank" of the Cher River.

Diane de Poitiers' bedroom.

Catherine de Medici's study, with her lovely
view over the Cher River.

If you're a king, you only have to visit once to have a room named after you. Louis XIV visited
in 1650. Years later, he gifted an uncle with the portrait currently hanging on the wall of what is now
known as "Louis XIV's Drawing Room."

The part of the kitchens used for the preparation
of meat.

An amazing Renaissance ceiling in the Bourbon Vendome vestibule.

The last royal presence in Chenonceau was that of Louise of Lorraine, who spent the last years of her life (1589-1601) mourning the death of her husband Henri III. After that, a series of ladies of the nobility or the industrial rich maintained the chateau.

Fun fact: In WWII, the River Cher was a line of demarcation between Occupied France and Free France. This meant that the entrance to the chateau was in the occupied zone, and the south end of the chateau galleries opened onto the free zone. The Resistance used the chateau on numerous occasions to pass people into the free zone.

We quickly worked our way through a few other displays.

Chenonceau in WWI. The galleries were used as
hospital wards and also had an operating theater.

Lon perusing the "drugs" in Catherine de 
Medici's apothecary.

There's nothing like ending a trip on a high note with a beautiful chateau.  The week was what we call a "Goldilocks" kind of trip--not too much, not too little, but just right. We had a pleasant, if uneventful drive back to Nevers, where we planned to spend an additional 3 days. There were a few places in town we hadn't had a chance to see before we left for the chateaux, a bike ride to take on July 14 to a couple of sights in the vicinity (as, due to the holiday, the locks were closed and cruising was out of the question), and another day for stocking up and cruise preparation.