“If I see one more incredible chateau…..”. This is just the mousse bouche so to speak with the main event of this trip further south. It has not let me down and given me a renewed taste for la Belle France. I made an unintentional and inspired decision to visit Chenonceaux for my first chateau of the day as it was only 15 minutes from the hotel and arriving just after it opened meant unflustered wandering. I realised how lucky I was at Cheverny and Chambord as they were pretty busy, not bad but just requiring a little more patience. Lots of well behaved school groups and young families, which is nice to see. I visited Chenonceaux a long time ago, it may have been 1978 with Mike Pilditch on our way back from Monaco. I cannot be sure. It was different this time for two reasons, I had more time and the river Cher was thundering along its way to the Loire. The other two chateaux were new to me. Cheverny is famous for its simple, elegant symmetrical aspect and is in extensive grounds which function a little like a theme park with different ticketing depending on whether you want the Tintin experience and other treats. It so happens they have a major Easter event which would explain the young families with lots of themed items both in the chateau and in the grounds. Next was Chambord which was collosal and rightly popular before returning via Blois to Amboise.Today’s post starts at Chenonceaux and the wonderful gallery.

This is the lovely little chapel

The Queen’s appothecary was well stocked

Moving on we get to Cheverny and its Easter treats including rabbits, eggs and masked made of chocolate. The smell pervading the rooms.

How about works of art made from Lego!

The gardens at Cheverny were interesting including some surprises

So on to Chambered for a truly giant chateau in overall scale and size of rooms

The King’s bed chamber has a fence in front of his bed but the queen doesn’t

A large central spiral staircase ends in a tower on the roof. For scale you can see the tower in the wide image above.

Another way of assessing scale is looking at the people in the outer courtyard.

I got caught in a passing shower by the river in Blois but the sun followed illuminating the Royal Chateau.

My day was about done with just time for a walk by the river in Amboise rounding of my visit to the Loire Valley.

Another spectacular chateau, exterior only