Chateau de Chenonceau

Chenonceau is one of the castles we went to in the Loire Valley. It is described as a jewel of Renaissance architecture. It features a moat, drawbridge, towers and turrets. The first picture is the long walk way up to the castle. On the way there we saw these little animals in the steam, I don't know if they are them or not but we called them muskrats. And the last one is of Chenonceau, and yes it was being restored, go figure.







Here is a closer view



Here are some pictures of what it it really supposed to look like







So in order to build the Chateau de Chenonceau on the River Cher in the 16th centurey, Thomas Bohier and his wife Katherine Briconnet demolished the fortified castle and mill the belonged to the Marques family. They left the Marques tower and well though.





The first room we saw was the guards' room. This is where the men-at-arms were, they protected the royal family.



From there we saw the Chapel.



The next place we went was Diane de Poitier's bedroom. She was King Henri II's favorite lady.



This is some coins from the library.



The gallery was next. It is 60 meters in length, 6 meters in width. It has 18 windows, a tufa and slate-tile floor and exposed joist ceiling. During the first World War it was used as a hospital.





This is a view from the gallery.



We went through some really cool hallways and then on to the Kitchens. Even for being old these kitchens were amazing.






The pantry is a low room with two intersecting rib vaults. The fireplace is the biggest in the Chateau and dates from the 16th century. Next to the fireplace is the bread oven.







The dining room is where the Chateau employees ate.



The butchery you can still see hooks for hanging game and blocks for chopping it on.



The larder is where produce is stored.



Here is a picture of Louis XIV's drawing room.



This is the five queen's bedroom. It was given the name in memory of Catherine de Medici's two daughters and three daughters-in-law.



This is Catherine de Medici's bedroom.



The castle has two gardens. the first is Diane de Poitiers' garden and the second is Catherine de' Medici's garden.





The first picture is the Domes building which used to be the royal stables, today it houses a self-service resturant with a large terrace. The other picture is a statue outside the castle. The last is the House of the Estate Manager.







We saw some more baby animals after we toured the castle. We also stopped by this really cool maze they had with this gloriette in the middle.









Stay tuned for Chateau de Chambord