Les Chateaux!

The Castles!


Last weekend, I visited two of the many glorious Chateaux found in this region of France. I travelled on a guided excursion provided by the school, which included transportation, entry tickets, and a "we're all here learning so don't speak too quickly" French guide for a very reasonable price. I was proud that I understood upwards of 95% of what our guide was telling us and learned some new vocabulary.

First, we went to Cheverny, the smaller and more "modest" of the two chateaux we visited that day. Unbelievably, the place was practically dead. I was shocked as it was a Saturday morning in July, but it worked out well for our tour group as we got a good view of everything. The exterior of Cheverny is clearly less impressive than many of its neighboring castles but the interior is one of the better due in part to its consistent ownership and history of inhabitants (more here). In particular, I was in love with the private apartments as well as the extensive decoration in the public salles.

In addition to a lovely interior Cheverny also has lovely grounds. In particular, the kitchen garden is perhaps the nicest garden I've ever been to. And, then there are the "Hounds of Cheverny" or
"Le Chenil", the 70 or so dogs that are known for their strict obedience and training. Cuties!

After a lunch stop in nearby Blois, we went to Chambord. I wasn't too impressed by the interior of this chateau, but its sheer size is staggering. The views from outside are breathtaking, and therefore I spent most of my time wandering around outside and taking random selfies with the castle in the background. I also enjoyed the spiral staircases and the grand promenade (walking the terraces on the top) where you get stellar views of the forest.

A la prochaine,

SwissMissD