The French castles are superb. There is a ton of information about them on the net, so I will just put in about 20 pictures of the various ones we saw.
We went to Amboise…
http://www.chateau-amboise.com/..and here are some pix…
The castle is on the top of a hill with the town nestled underneath. There are great views out to the river.
The last shot is a bit of a coup for me; I asked the nice security guard if they could play one note of the harpsichord-shaped musical instrument sitting in the music room, as I could then tell if it was a harpsichord, spinet or piano; the guard said, “you can do it” and let me sit at it and play it!! Made me sit nicely too, and took 3 photos. It wasn’t very good; it was a piano, but like a lot of old pianos it was there as furniture, and the middle notes were dead, while the bass still functioned somewhat, but it hadn’t been tuned in a century and needed a good restringing and refelting and even rehammering!! (Did you know I’m a music teacher by the way??) However, according to the nice guard, who was pleased to see someone taking an interest in the esoterics, this very piano had been played by Chopin. Or at least it was the same brand as the one he learnt on. However, it was a real thrill and I hope the poor guard doesn’t get the sack for this.
CHENONCEAUX
This is apparently the second most visited castle in France. We arrived early in the morning just as the fog was lifting but if you go in for moody romantic shots this is the place.
Here’s the link..there is a bit of a virtual tour on it, and a lot of detail.
http://www.chenonceau.com/media/fr/index_fr.php
The whole castle is built over the river on its own integrated bridge and is gorgeous. In the grounds there is also a play maze where you can’t run very fast, or get really lost, so it is fun to try. There’s a big kitchen garden out the back, plus, of course, a museum. I didn’t do a lot of vista shots as it was quite gloomy, so you’ll see the quirkier ones here. The link leads to some real glamourpuss stuff!!
Our visit to Chombard had better lighting. This castle is a monument to add ons..the roof itself has overtones of Islamic towers surrounded by gingerbread. The famous double staircase is there; if you get onto the wrong ramp you are half a staircase out of phase with the rest of the group. You have to go to the next exit and re-enter. And no, I can’t put it any better than that.
After this we went to the gentleman’s country retreat of Cheverny www.chateau-cheverny.fr
which is famous for its striped aspect. It is quite small but makes up for it with an apparent ban on undecorated surfaces. If it wasn’t gilded it was appliqued, frosted, patinated, or , if the money had been getting low, just varnished. You couldn’t see the walls for the decor. It was my favorite castle, though, and I liked visiting the hunting dogs and prowling the grounds. It was January, and the first spring flowers were coming in…hadn’t been much snow. The earthworms in the lawns had been going great guns, though, and all I can say is that worm poo, after you have gotten a couple of footfulls of it, smells as bad as any other kind!
Since the US is such a “new” country, I am always in awe when I see old structures like this. In England I saw a church smack dab in the middle of London that was built in the 1200’s! Makes me wonder how much maintenance is required to keep these lovely things standing upright (although in England old buildings often are NOT quite upright!)
One of the castles we saw had been vandalised by a local king! Heads chopped off statues..amazing what people will do to art in the name of power!