Chateau la Loire – 16th century StairMaster
Since my last post, my life has been the stuff of fairy tales. Our second group excursion was to the many châteaux in the La Loire region of France. The trip was a four day extravaganza of châteaux tours – much more tiring than it sounds. We were warned to dress for chilly stone chambers in spite of warming temperatures and the promise of spring.
The unofficial group pose
The first day we hiked up stairs that I would imagine might have deterred a few house guests to the Château de Blois. Like many other châteaux, Blois was built over many centuries, as its erudite inhabitants saw fit or encountered the fortune I imagine it must cost to construct such a bundling. The particular intrigue of this chateau is that those inhabitants paid little to no attention to the structure or style of the previous builder and thus erected a series of incongruent structures. Noteworthy additions include the eye-drawing and elaborate external staircase that was wholly ignored and unused as indoor staircases became more fashionable.
Château de Chambord
Out next stop – the same day – was Château de Chambord. The largest and probably the best known, it was actually just built for show, to stand as a testament to what beautiful buildings the French were capable of constructing. The effect was accomplished given the desire, the coolest part being yet another staircase. This one is in the form of a double helix, meaning there are two staircases stacked on top of each other and should you enter one of them, you would never cross paths with a person on the other. I know the concept is relatively simple but I still had quite a time trying to wrap my head around the construction. The staircase also led to a few good conversations about romance or horror films that could be filmed on it. Just imagine the prospects! The construction also appeals to my compulsively organized side. The design is centered on the staircase and the surrounded area is divided into eight sections which are then further divided horizontally and vertically on higher floors. As if that weren’t enough, the château boasts a mini village on the roof, which, I believe was actually inhabited. Such a pity the King of France spent only two weeks at the estate.
Château de Chaumont
We began our second day at the Château de Chaumont. If my memory serves me this palatial structure inspired the design of sleeping beauty’s castle. The grounds of the chateau are appropriately regal, with paths weaving through flower beds, around impressively large stables and to outlooks over the adjacent river. In contrast to Chambord, Chaumont was completely furnished, and thus felt much more homey. That lived-in feeling may factor into it being my favorite of the four we visited. I also made friends with a very nice orange tabby cat that then followed me around the gardens; more likely the reason I enjoyed my time there so much.
Château de Chenonceau
Finally, we made our way to the Château de Chenonceau. While Chaumont is my favorite, I must admit that Chenonceau, a close second, is the most impressive. The palace stretches over a “rivière,” not to be confused with a “fleuve” as I thought it was. A “rivière,” is actually a tributary, though it sounds an awful lot like a river, which is actually a “fleuve.” In any event, Chenonceau is built over this body of water and as a result has the COOLEST KITCHEN EVER. The kitchens (note: plural) were often located in the basement in most architecture of the time, but what makes these particularly sweet is the delivery method made possible by the river/rivière/tributary. When delivering food stuffs, boats would tether under the chateau and offload cargo through the boat-level windows (the top of the wall) of the kitchens; pretty convenient. The kitchens are divided into a butcher area, the bakery area, the classic kitchen and the servants’ dining area. I also loved the somber but beautiful bed chamber of la reine Louise de Lorraine. The queen of King Henri III fell into a state of deep depression after her beloved king’s death and mourned for the remaining twelve years of her life. In order to grieve properly, Louise lived out her final days wearing only white (apparently the color of mourning) and had her room and all of her possessions bedecked in black velvet. I suppose if you’re going to grieve for twelve years, you might as well do it in style.
At Chenonceau, each room was decked out in custom, fresh floral arrangement; this one was in Louis de Lorraine’s bedchamber.
To bolster the awe striking appearance of Chenoceau, it also has some of the coolest, largest and french-est gardens I’ve ever seen.
Château de Chenonceau
Casualties of the trip: I ate too much foie gras. Be wary, you can in fact have too much of a good thing.
Our last morning, three of us hiked up another set of impressive stairs named for Dennis Papin. My mother recently informed me that we are indebted to this 17th c. French physicist as a result of his pioneering invention of the steam digester – forerunner of the ever important pressure cooker. The view from the top was well worth the climb and made for the most peaceful way to start a Sunday and reflect on over a month of time spent in La belle France.
Château de Chenonceau
Versailles
the Hall of Mirrors or Galeries des Glaces at Versailles
In keeping with the castle theme, three of the other dijonettes and I embarked on a weekend adventure to the only true palace in France: Versailles. Of course we watched Marie Antoinette to prepare ourselves for the trip, given that it’s the only movie to have ever been filmed there, I highly suggest watching it before any future trips you might be planning. We boarded a train in Dijon at 7:30am dressed in our most princessy outfits (it was in preparing for this trip that none of my clothes are particularly princessy, but I tried.) My first reaction upon arriving was shock that the Versailles is actually surrounded by a town. The movie did not prepare me for this moment, nor did it prepare me for all of the peasants cluttering up my photos. I digress. Our time in the palace proper was no more than three hours. My personal favorite rooms were, of course, the hall of mirrors, but also the library of one of the princesses. The room was smaller than most others and had a surprisingly cozy feel, given the straight backed charms and formality of everything. I mostly enjoyed the thought of ladies in corseted gowns reading leather bound books, each with the seal of the daughters of France on their covers.
Hanging out with a thousand of my closest friends in the Hall of Mirrors
Another great attraction was the Google 3D simulation room. Something about 3D simulations makes me way more interested.
Posing with Piper behind the main palace
The summer palace
Moving on from the main palace, we explored the gardens and, my favorite part, Marie Antoinette’s village. As I understand it, this little village was constructed largely so that the former queen could experience the aspects of “normal” life which intruiged her. Of course, servants cleaned the eggs in the in the coops before touched by royal hands. Maybe that’s not true, I’m mostly going off the movie here. Regardless of the practical functionality of the village, I think we all preferred it to joining mobs of people peering over banisters at ornate furniture. We opted to abstain from the five euro tram through the gardens and given that the afternoon turned out to be a beautiful and brisk spring day, it was undoubtedly the right choice.
Giggles with Ryan in the gardens
Enjoying Marie Antoinette’s village
As if I didn’t already feel like I was in a real life fairytale world, the town surrounding the palace solidified the sentiment. We snaked through the streets, all too quickly for my liking, watching sorbet colored sunset light glint off shop windows.
When In Dijon 