In the footsteps of French Kings and Leonardo da Vinci

January 6, 2012 22 Comments

The chateau from across the Loire River


You may after sometime have an overdose of my castle madness but this is just the second castle in my Loire Valley adventure. At some point, the hubby told me that if he never ever see a castle in his life again, he can live with that. He has seen enough…. Not me!

Hubby and me at the chateau's ground


at the chateau


From the chateau with view of the Loire River

My royal fascination continues. From Chenonceau Castle, we drove to Amboise which was about 15 kilometers away. The 15th century Royale Chateau of Amboise belonged to Louise d’Amboise who was convicted of plotting agains Louis XI and condemned to be executed in 1431. He was pardoned by the king but his chateau was confiscated. The chateau became a favorite of French Kings from Charles VIII, Louis XII, Francis I to Henry II. It would, however, figured infamously in the Tumult of Amboise, the failed attempt by the Huguenots in 1560 to gain power of France by abducting the young king, Francis II and arresting Francis, Duke of Guise and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine. This event would lead to the Wars of Religion that divided France from 1562 to 1598.

The Huguenots led by La Renaudie attempted to storm the chateau. When he was caught, he was drawn and quartered and his flesh displayed at the gates of the town. In the presence of the King and Queen, La Renaudie’s followers (between 1,200 and 1,500) were also killed and their corpses hung on iron hooks on the facade of the chateau and from nearby trees. Others were drowned in the Loire or exposed to the fury of the townspeople of Amboise.

Castles are not that all glitter and glamor, huh!

What is then the connection of this chateau to Leonardo da Vinci?

King Francis I who was known as “The Builder” was raised at Amboise and during the first few years of his reign, the chateau reached the pinnacle of its glory. Leonardo da Vinci as his guest came to the chateau in December 1515 and lived and worked in the nearby Clos Luce which is connected to the chateau by an underground passage. Leonardo is buried in the Chapel of Saint Hubert on the castle’s ground.

Resting place of Leonardo da Vinci


The chateau is built on a promontory overlooking the Loire River. On the other side, we got to peer down at the lovely town of Amboise. Too bad that we didn’t have sufficient time to linger and explore the old town which is reputed to be loveliest town in the Loire. That’s what castle madness and greed did to me on this holiday — I wanted to see as many castles as possible that I set aside the chance to savor every moment and absorb the beauty that was around me. Next time, I’ll devote a longer time here, explore the town and have dinner in one of the fancy restaurants…someday.

View of the town of Amboise from the chateau


Picture-taking was not allowed inside the chateau so I don’t have indoor shots. It was nice to explore the chateau’s garden. I was so impressed by the centuries-old cedars of Lebanon with the huge scented pine cones. Those cones would have made fantastic home decorations for my mom-in-law.

Huge cones from the centuries-old cedar of Lebanon trees on the castle ground

Hubby with the chateau and the centuries-old cedar of Lebanon

Me and the cedar of Lebanon with the chateau in the background

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Exploring Chenonceau, the castle of the ladies

January 3, 2012 9 Comments

Behind the beauty of this castle in such a splendid setting lies the story of a king, his long-suffering wife and his favored mistress which would make a perfect basis for a soap opera in today’s time and age.

Chenonceau Castle


Chenonceau Castle is known as the “Chateau of the Ladies” in obvious reference to Catherine de Medici, wife of King Henry II and Diane de Poitiers, his favorite mistress. The king who was so attached to this woman who was 20 years his senior, showered her with gifts from jewelries to properties and the most known of course was Chenonceau, the castle she so coveted. Built in 1513 by Katherine Briconnet, Diane lavishly had the castle embellished and had the arched bridge constructed, joining the chateau to its opposite bank. She then oversaw the planting of extensive flower and vegetable 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 four triangles.

The garden of Diane de Poitiers


Diane de Poitiers was the unquestioned mistress of the castle , but ownership remained with the crown until 1555, when years of delicate legal maneuvers finally yielded possession to her. King Henry II would die in a jousting accident in 1559 and his strong-willed widow and regent Catherine de Medici had Diane expelled. It was her time to exact revenge on the woman who had the king’s affection for which she could never be first place despite bearing him 10 children. Because the estate no longer belonged to the crown, she could not seize it outright but forced Diane to exchange it for the Chateau Chaumont. Catherine de Medici then made Chenonceau her own favorite residence, adding a new series of gardens.

View of the chateau from Catherine's garden


Of all the castles which I’ve visited in the Loire Valley which I can say is the castle mecca in the world (castles were at a close distance of few kilometers from each other), Chenonceau was my favorite. The 2 gardens were simply astounding, competing with each other just like the two ladies who vied for the affection of the king.

We explored the gardens and the castle’s interior. I was pretty curious of Diane’s bedroom, thinking of her and the king ;-) We also saw Catherine’s bedroom but she was already a lonely widow when she went to live in this castle.

Diane de Poitiers' bedroom


At Catherine de Medici's bedroom

I was curious as well of the arched bridge spanning the river Cher. Catherine de Medici actually had a magnificent ballroom gallery built upon the bridge of Diane de Poitiers. It is 60 meters long, 6 meters wide, lit by 18 windows, with a sandy chalk tiled and slate floor and exposed joist ceiling.

We also went to see the kitchen which I found very interesting. I loved those copper pots and pans and I can’t help but imagine how food must have been prepared in those days.

We had lunch at the castle’s restaurant L’Orangerie which had amazing haute cuisine. Too bad that I couldn’t do wine tasting in their cellar because of my condition. I’d love to someday come back again and camp in the same camping site along the banks of river Cher which is a tributary of the Loire River.

Summer is a great time to be there. The gardens are just at their gorgeous best and on weekends, there is a music festival at the chateau which we could listen to from the comforts of our tent.

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Pregnant and camping: Why not?

December 30, 2011 20 Comments

The camping holiday we took in early summer of 2007 raised a few eyebrows for obvious reason — I was five months on the family way. Hubby and I are so fond of camping that my condition did not deter me then to enjoy the pleasure of an outdoor holiday. We’ve camped in a few countries in Europe, spent our honeymoon camping in Denmark and we even went on holiday in the United States camping in five states (Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico).

With our new tent, I could stand inside

Our tent

Enjoying a drink before dinner (I abstained from alcohol though)

We made a few adjustments though from our usual camping routine. First, we bought a bigger and taller tent to replace our small tent so that I can stand inside it and need not crawl to get in. Next, we plan the camping trip in such a way that we camped in just 3 places during the entire holiday instead of hopping from one camping site to the next on a daily basis like what we used to do in the past. In that way, we didn’t have to set up the tent in the afternoon and dismantle it in the morning as we move on.

We opted to go camping in France as on the holidays we’ve spent there in the past, we either stayed in hotels or holiday houses. It is also one popular camping destination for the Dutch which we’ve never validated if deserving of its popularity.

At Chateau Chenonceau which spans the river Cher

At Chateau de Chenonceau with the garden of Catherine de Medici in the background

My tummy looks like the topiaries at Chateau du Amboise

Our first camping stop was in the Loire Valley. As I love castles and is such a history and royalty buff, the Loire Valley was an obvious choice. More so, I’ve just finished reading Catherine de Medici’s biography by Leonie Frieda which with all the intrigues and drama of Renaissance France, made the desire to visit the castles of Chenonceau , Amboise, Chaumont sur Loire, etc. so compelling. We camped in the town of Chenonceaux itself, on the banks of the river Cher. Camping Le Moulin Fort was just 15 minutes walk from Chenonceaux Castle and literally almost a stone’s throw because we could even hear the outdoor music from the castle during the weekend’s music festival.

We enjoyed our stay in this camping site. What we also learned is that we can have electricity in our tent, we just needed to pay an extra Eur 2.00 per day and place a deposit on the special electrical cable and socket. This was a big improvement compared to our previous camping experiences were we literally have to rely on gas lamps and flashlights. Now, we can charge our mobile phones and even use the laptop.

Because of my condition, we also chose to set up the tent not so far from the toilet/bathroom. That’s another thing that we took into account and for the rest, it was business as usual.

Oh, I loved our breakfasts out there. The nice thing about camping in France was that we could place our orders of croissants and French bread in the evening at the camp shop. Hubby would pick them up there fresh from the oven at 8:30 in the morning. That was really heaven for me. I was eating like a construction worker according to him as I would eat between 3 to 4 of those lovely croissants slathered with butter and strawberry jam.

The Loire Valley must be the castle capital in the world with the highest number of castles per few square kilometers. In the beginning, we were visiting 3 to 4 castles a day (can you imagine that?) and that was because there were just so many of them and all with their own special attractions. At one point, I guess that castle fatigue knocked me off big time. Each castle especially from the inside started to look the same ;-)

Anyway, I will try to cover the castles in my upcoming blogs and give you a bit more insight into each and every one of them.

We stayed at the Loire Valley for 5 days before moving to the Drome which hubby wanted to show me. He spent a few weeks in the area doing field work many years ago as an Engineering Geology student. We would stay there for another 4 days and then it was the choice of driving further to the Provence in the south or heading to the French Alps. The latter prevailed because we didn’t have to drive a lot further and the weather forecast was excellent weather on the French side of the Alps.

At the Drome having fun


At one of the passes in the Drome

Rocky cliffs in the Drome were such breathtaking attractions

At the Alps

At the Alps, with snow still left in early summer

Life is about taking chances and thinking outside the box. I did not allow myself to be restricted by my pregnancy to enjoy a great holiday. Camping is fun and it is an adventure that we will carry on.

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