The Loire Valley Trip

This weekend, the 10th and 11th of April, the ISA group went on an excursion to the Loire Valley to see some Chateaux and get out of Paris for once. There were 66 students, from the Institut Catholique, the Sorbonne, and the American Business School of Paris. Fortunately, this time the bus wasn't too crowded and, though uncomfortable at times, was rather quite a nice trip through the countryside of France. But first I am going to give a quick history of the Loire.

The Loire is a relatively flat area of France. For the most part it is just rolling hills but along the rivers one can see some cliffs and very small mountains. "Mountains" is probably the wrong word. Hills would be better, very large hills with some cliffs; so it's easy to confuse the two then. Anyway, there is one principle river that runs through the Loire Valley and it is, yep you guessed it, the Loire River. The one thing that the Loire seems to be known for however, are chateaux. Chateaux dot the river on both sides for the entire length of the river. This came about because of the 100yrs war when England and France duked it out to see who could get the crown of France. Of course we know that France won that war (no comments please). The result of 100yrs of fighting was that the Loire River became essentially a fortified wall with the river being the wall and the all the Chateaux on either side being the fortifications. Many of these Chateaux are still privately owned today and only a few actually allow visitors. The Chateaux that are privately owned are still in the hands of some of the families who had them after the 100yrs war and before that. While others have been bought and sold periodically throughout the time since the French Revolution. Well there you have it.

Saturday:

Saturday began pretty early for my roommate and me. We got up at about 6:30am and got ready and out the door by 7:15am. The meeting time was 7:30 at the ISA which only took us eight minutes to get via the Tram. Well I guess it wasn't too early since I know of people who had to get up at 6:00 or just a little before. Of course we weren't going to leave until 8:00am anyway but one has to say 7:30 just to make sure that everyone is there by 8:00am. Otherwise people won't get there until 8:30 and you won't leave until 9:00 anyway. It's really great how human nature works, right? We rolled out of Paris around 8:00am. The ride itself wasn't very long, only about 2:30hrs. The countryside was really pretty though. It's a very agricultural area with green fields that expand for miles on either side of the highway.

We arrived at Chenonceau at about 11:00 am, give or take a couple minutes. Now the Chateau de Chenonceau itself resides across the River Cher and not the Loire River. Chenonceau was built by Thomas Bohier and his wife Katherine Brconnet in the 16th Century, well after the 100yrs war. They demolished the fortified Castle and the mill that were along the river belonging to the Marques family. However, they kept the tower or keep and the well. The courtyard is an island surrounded by a moat on three sides and the river on the fourth. It is roughly the same layout as the castle before.

The Chateau de Chenonceau is known as "the ladies' chateau" for a very simple reason, six very important ladies lived there throughout the last 500 yrs. The most famous of whom was Catherine de' Medici, the wife of wife of Henry II, and the mother and regent of three other Kings of France; Francois II, Charles IX, and Henry III. However, the Chateau belonged first to Diane de Poitiers, the mentor and then latter the lover of Henry II. Upon the death of Henry II, Diane gave Chenonceau to Catherine de' Medici in exchange for Chaumont-sur-Loire. Catherine made one very important change to Chenonceau. She had the Gallery built over what was the bridge of Diane de Poitiers. It is 60 meters long, 6 meters wide with two very large fireplaces at either. However the one on the south end is the decoration surrounding the South Door, which opens onto the Left Bank of the River Cher. In effect the Chateau itself is a very elaborate bridge.

During WWII that is exactly what it was used for. The River Cher marked the line of occupied and unoccupied France. Therefore the French resistance was able to smuggle quite a large number of people into the Free Zone. However, the Germans had some clue as to what was happening and had a battery of artillery zeroed in on Chenonceau ready to destroy it at anytime. Thankfully that never happened.

The Chateau de Chenonceau is decorated in a wide variety of time periods. For example there are several rooms that have been decorated for Catherine de' Medici; her bedroom, the green study (from where she ruled France as Regent), the gallery, and the library. There is also a room called "The Five Queens' Bedroom" of the two daughters and three daughters-in-law of Catherine de' Medici; Queen Margot, Elisabeth of France, and the daughters-in-law: Mary Stuart, Elisabeth of Austria, Louise of Lorraine (to whom the ownership went after Catherine). There is the bedroom of Diane de Poitiers, the guards' room, the chapel (attached to the guards' room), and the main hall, Francois I's bedroom, and the drawing room of Louis XIV round out the first floor. The kitchens compose the lowest floor; the butchery, the dining room, the larder (store room), the bridge to the kitchen, and the pantry. There is a hall decorated to Katherine Briconnet, several exhibition rooms of Madame Dupin (owner after Louise de Lorraine), Cesar de Vendome's bedroom (uncle of Louis XIV and owner in 1624), Gabrielle d'Estrees' bedroom (mother of Cesar de Vendome), the second floor hall (decorated for Madame Pelouze; owner in the 19th century), and Louise de Lorraine’s bedroom on the second floor (actually the third floor in the U.S.).

The grounds consist of two very magnificent gardens. The larger of the two belonging to Diane de Poitiers while the smaller of the two belonging to Catherine de' Medici. There is also a 16th Century Farm located on the grounds containing the vegetable garden and flower garden where all the daily flower arrangements come from. There is also a donkey pasture. The Domes building used to be the stables and is now a self-service restaurant. Next door (in the same building) is the Wax Museum. Not too far away is L'Orangerie and the tea room. On the other side of the boulevard is the Italian Maze, designed by Catherine de' Medici. She had 2,000 yews planted there covering just a little more than one hectare.

The Chateau de Chenonceau was very nice. It was a quick visit for us. We only had three hours to see it via the guided tour, eat, and explore the gardens. Needless to say it wasn't enough time. The facade of Chenonceau was also under renovation so pictures in a way were almost pointless (of the chateau). It was a beautiful day so that made up for all the downsides. It wasn't my personal favorite probably because of all the people there; it's one of the most visited Chateaux in France. I'm glad I was able to see it though. I do have some good pictures I am happy with. Mainly these pictures are of the gardens and grounds.

Our next stop of the day was Leonardo De Vinci's House; the Chateau du Clos Luce. It is a very nice house. The grounds are the more fascinating part I think though. The house has quite a nice collection of antiques but not many are from that time period. It is a Renaissance House but there are rooms that have been decorated in the 18th and 19th centuries, long after De Vinci passed away. The grounds however are quite fascinating. There are replicas of a lot of his work that are interactive. There is a model of the first tank, a pulley system, the life preserver, the paddle boat, and a bridge he designed. We only had an hour or two at the most so we spent the time just looking around and playing on all the stuff. It was very much like 4th grade recess again.

Surprise! The ISA staff took us to a winery not too far away where we had the wonderful opportunity of sampling some very fine wine. Some of us sample a little too much of this very fine wine, but at least they were happy... It was very good. I've had small amounts of wine since I've been in France and this was some of the best I've had. I bought a bottle of very nice white wine called Cuvee Gabriel. I haven't opened it yet but the sample was very good.

We spent the night in Tours; a very old and historical town. ISA had gotten us a Holiday Inn to stay in. It was a very nice hotel. Although it is directly beside the Train Station so I could hear the low rumble of trains all night. I took a few pictures once I got there while the sun was setting. It's a very pretty town because all of the buildings are made of limestone so the stone reflects light quite nicely. Therefore the city seems to take on a warm glow in the setting sun. A group of us went exploring for food. There is an old section of town very close to the river where all the buildings are from the Renaissance or before. It's about a 15 minute walk but it's worth it and after spending almost two months walking all over Paris none of us seemed to mind the walk. We got some food and then walked around town some more headed for the hotel. However when we got to the town center, near the city hall, we decided some ice cream was in order. Since the night was still relatively young we headed back for ice cream. The ice cream shop was very cool. They had at least 50 flavors and that's no exaggeration either. I had amoretto. It was superb. We headed down to the river, only five minutes away, eating along the way. It was a little breezy but a very nice night overall. The main bridge was lit up and of course made of limestone also. It was very pretty. After that we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.

Sunday:

Sunday began with breakfast at 8:00. It was a very nice breakfast. The novelty of the day were these little individual jars of jam and packets of Nutella shaped like jars. Of course everyone had to get some. We left at 0930 and headed to the Chateau de Chambord about an hour down the road.

Chambord was inspired and created by Francois I. He began the project in 1519 when he was 25 years old; four years after he acquired the throne of France in 1515. In 1515 he began to reconquer the province of Milan lost by his predecessor Louis XII. By the time he returned to France, Francois I had been influenced by Italy's Renaissance architecture and a victory at Marignano. Being a very keen hunter himself he undertook the project. However he did not see the completion of his hunting lodge. It was Henry II and Louis XIV who made Chambord what it is today.

Chambord is a very large and extravagant Chateau. Its architecture almost resembles that of a medieval fortress with a central stronghold and four large flanking towers and two wings with a curtain and another four towers enclosing it. To top all of this off there is a moat surrounding it. Francois I intended Chambord to be a hunting lodge but over the years it grew to become a large chateau with 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces and 426 rooms. It is 156 meters long and 56 meters high. It is built mainly from tufa, a freshwater limestone. Though it was used to build many other chateaux in the Loire, its implementation in the architecture at Chambord is really quite striking.

Perhaps the most famous piece of Chambord is its central, double spiral staircase. When people take the either stair case they will see each other through the windows of the staircase but will never meet until they reach the top. On each floor there are four hallways, forming a cross, meet at the stair case. It's a very innovative layout with a popular suggestion that Leonardo de Vinci, who came to France by request of Francois I in 1516 had helped design this part of the Chateau.

Since Chambord is a hunting estate there are 5440 hectares of free roaming land for wildlife (a hectare is equal to 2.4 acres or 13,056 acres). This is said to be the same area as Inner Paris. It is surrounded by a wall that spans 32km or 20 miles. It is the largest enclosed park in Europe and is a national game reserve containing quite a few different kinds of animals. The most commonly seen are wild boar and deer. There are 800 hectares or 1,920 acres open to the public with many paths and trails traversing the land.

Some of the most popular activities, besides seeing the chateaux, are taking a Land Rover and driving through the game lands on a mini safari, riding an assortment of bicycles, and boating in the manmade river.

My friends and I chose to go biking since it was part of the program and bikes can let one see more or the area. We rode around the edge of the forest eventually making a loop around the chateau. It was an absolutely perfect day for biking too. We all had a fantastic time. Finally we ended up taking a break in a field on the other side of the road.

We had another surprise today before we left. More Wine! Only this time it was less in quantity than last night although it was enough to put everyone to sleep for the bus ride back to Paris. Chambord though was my favorite of the two. There were less people or maybe there was just more space to put everyone. It didn't feel as crowed and the bikes were a big hit. However, both places almost require a day each to do them justice. We rolled into Paris at 5:30 pm, early enough to study and eat dinner. On the whole it was a very nice trip that I enjoyed a lot. I hope you all enjoyed reading. Please send your thoughts and questions.