Wednesday 24th – Week 2 – Loire Chateaus

The town of Chinon is near to the first nuclear power plant built in 1963. Because of this the campground has emergency procedure in case of nuclear disaster, although it appears to have suffered in the translation. The instruction is to “stay indoors and lead a retiring life”. Most of the campground occupants appear to be following the instruction, even though there is no nuclear emergency.

Irrespective of whether a nuclear emergency is imminent or not (and in a remarkable change of fortunes, the French now claim the “green” high ground because their nuclear power doesn't burn fossil fuels – a far cry from the derision heaped on it in the 70's and 80's), it was time to move on, so we checked out of the campground at Chinon and headed an hour down the Loire valley to Chenonceaux, stopping at two Chateaus along the way.

History as a succession of days, dates and names is one of the driest topics on the planet. It needs something to bring it to life and nothing does this better than a bit of financial skull duggery, rags to riches or riches to rags stories, death in extenuating circumstances or a bit of inappropriate shagging. The history of the chateaus that I find more interesting cover these topics in spades and it really does make for a lively tour (even if self guided by the Michelin Guide) if you can get the spiced up version of the story rather than the “official” sanitised one.

First stop on the day was the Chateau at Azay Le Ridau. Azay was called Azay Le Brulé (Azay the Burnt) after Charles VII was insulted on his way through by a guard. The town was seized, razed to the ground and 350 of the soldiers troops were executed to thank them for the insult. Later a chandellier fell onto the dining table while a visting Prussian Duke was visiting and thinking he was under attack, was all set to put it to a similar fate.

The existing chateau was resurrected from its burnt out shell by Gilles Brethelot, one of the great financiers of the time. The chateau was confiscated from Monsieur Brethelot after he was implicated in a financial scandal and fled leaving his wife and 6 children to cop the flak. See what I mean about “history at its best”.

Next stop was Villandry – one of the two jewels in the Loire crown according to us anyway. Villandry is rightly famed for its amazing gardens. The chateau had been left to ruin, when it was bought be an american heiress and her Spanish husband in 1905. They were both research scientists, but he gave up his time and she her money to restore the gardens at Villandry to their former glory. I've loaded quite a few photos, because it really is a beautiful sight.

Villandry is still owned by the family that bought it in 1905 and it very much has the feel of a family home. The parts of the house that are open to the public up are virtually un-roped so you can look out windows, sit on chairs and touch the walls, which is virtually unheard of in all the other chateaus. All the rooms have amazing bunches of fresh flowers (from their own gardens, I assume). Many of the other chateaus are stuffy and cold inside, with heavy curtains to protect the precious tapestries, but Villandry has none of that and you could imagine the family living in the rooms of the house when it had closed to the tourists for the day.

After Villandry, we drove to Chenonceaux to find our campground for the next four days. It is a 3-star and very nice – beside the Cher river, lovely big pitches, plenty of trees for shade, a restaurant on site, wifi internet access and the real bonus – fresh coffee and pain au chocolat and pain au raising delivered each morning – fantastic.