Le Château de Chenonceau

It shows that this castle was designed by women! Catherine de Médicis, Diane de Poitiers, Louise de Lorraine among others, left wonderful stories on this property.  It is small and exquisite with all that you expect from a castle.  Saved the best one for last..

The chapel 

The butcher 

Diane de Poitiers

The apothecary

One more picture of the kitchen...
This was a food blog after all..

Veigné, Indre-et-Loire

Sunday, September 27

First day on La Loire

Friday was my first day exploring the region and starting big with Chambord.  Imagined by Francois 1er, king of France and it is good representation of a 16th century renaissance architecture.  Not much furniture though.  I understand the royal family was often on the move, bringing their furniture along with them.  Too many castles, so little time... Also they were not much into the preservation of their patrimoine as we are.  The kind only spent 72 nights in his lifetime in Chambord while hunting on its 5440 hectares, the biggest enclosed park in Europe.  Hence the outfit.

Afterwards I went to stroll around the charming town of Saint-Dye-sur-Loire.  There was a port at one point where ships brought all the supplies to build the castle.  It now sits quietly by the river.

Then I went on to Beaugency... 

Two Cathedrales and One Castle

Leaving Romagnat in the morning, I went to Clermont-Ferrand to take a look at the Cathedrale de Notre-Dame-de l'Assomption made of lava rocks!  Dark and solid.  Then a mandatory stop 400 meters ahead at the Eglise de Notre Dame du Port.  

For lunch, I went to La Gargouille, in Bourges, for a lovely meal of more charcuterie along a green salad to make my body think it's okay to eat a considerable amount of pork all soaked up with a nice glass of local red.  I then took a stroll through the adjacent gorgeous gothic Cathedrale Saint Etienne de Bourges.   

I still had a total of 1 1/2 hours driving time before reaching la Loire region.  I arrived in Baccon at the Chateau La Touanne for a two-night stay.  Special thanks to my mom, this is my birthday present...

The property is exquisite.  I took a long walk through the woods, garden and courts on the grounds.  It was built in the late 17th century and is in the same family ever since.  It is so quiet here... all I can hear is the wind outside.  I'm so fortunate.  This is a dream come true.