After seeing Chateau Blois and visiting the town, we took a day-trip to go to Chateau Amboise and then stopped at Chateau Azay-le-Rideau on the day we drove back to home base at Bois-le-Roi. This was the second time we’d visited Chateau Amboise and the fourth(!) time at Azay-le-Rideau. You can get some more info about these two chateaux by clicking on: 2018: Three Loire Chateaux.
Chateau Amboise
Chateau Amboise, a thirty-minute drive from Blois, sits on a point of land between the Loire river and what used to be the Amasse river (which is now under the town of Amboise). From this position the chateau and its owners – and their armies – could control the entire central Loire Valley. In the 1400s and 1500s, when the French monarchy lived in the Loire Valley, a number of kings and queens were raised here or lived here in their later lives. Henry II and his wife Catherine D’Medici raised three future kings and a future queen at this chateau.
Today it looks as it did in the 1500s, commanding a beautiful view of the Loire River and the town of Amboise. We very much enjoyed our return here.
The Loire River. The Loire Valley has become a favorite area for us.
The Chateau Amboise from halfway across a bridge on the Loire.
The main building of the chateau. Can’t see it here, but the left wing hangs down a cliff.
The other side of the chateau. The grounds have beautiful gardens all around.
I do not usually post pictures pictures of our fellow tourists, but this woman has a dog in her shoulder bag! Really.
Laurie enjoying the view through a beautiful window.
The view of the town of Amboise and the Loire River. The town is pretty touristy, but we walked a ways to find a restaurant off the beaten path that we enjoyed last trip. It was still there, still excellent.
Chateau Azay-le-Rideau
Chateau Azay-le-Rideau is 100% Renaissance, and we love it. We first visited it maybe 15 years ago and have been back three times since. It’s not huge or famous, but we can spend a lot of time just sitting and looking at it and enjoying its beauty.
We learned on this trip that for many years this chateau had a collection of portraits of French people unsurpassed anywhere. In the early 1900s much of the collection was sold to ease a financial strain on the family, but some fifty of the best were retained. They were displayed here for the first time in many decades. We saw portraits of royalty and aristocrats. A good addition to the chateau.
Many rooms are decorated and furnished in styles appropriate to the years of the chateau. We liked seeing those, too. But the star of this show is the chateau itself, so here are some pictures of it.
Walking to the chateau, this is the first view you see.
The forecourt of Azay-le-Rideau. Pure Renaissance.
Looking out a beautiful window.
Dinner time! À mange!
Now here’s a bed. Two kings – Louis XIII and Louis XIV – slept in this bed.
The Indre River flows all around the chateau, making the chateau look as if it’s floating in the river.
We can spend hours walking and sitting in the gardens. And have done just that.
That’s the end of our Loire Valley ramble. We drove back to Bois-le-Roi (an “interesting” drive, but we made it) and have since spent a lot of time remembering how much we enjoyed it. Honestly, everything went well: we had great weather, some excellent dinners, and saw lots of beautiful sights. A perfect trip!