We were on the road early today exploring another few chateaux. Chenonceaux was first on our agenda.

It is called the Ladies’ Chateau for good reason. Katherine Briconnmet was instrumental in the building of the original chateau between 1514-22. King Henri II gave the chateau to his favourite mistress Diane de Portiers. Catherine d’Medici, Henri’s wife forced Diane to trade the Chateau for a different castle after he died. Catherine loved the nightlife at the castle and hosted the first fireworks display in France from this home. Catherine built the bridge part to have a place for lavish social events. She lived there until her death in 1598 and then Louise d’Lorraine, wife of Henri III, took over the chateau. She was the last royal connection to the chateau. It changed hands a few times more over the years until Margarite Pelouze saved it from ruin. She restored it to the splendor of Diane de Portiers time. A political scandal ruined her financially and the property was sold a few more times until the Menier family bought it in 1913. They remain the owners and Pauline Menier continues the tradition of women managing the castle.

In 1914 the Chateau was used as a hospital during the war and they turned the grand gallery into a ward for over 100 patients. During WWII it was part of the line of demarcation from 1939-45. This line was technically the Cher River which the chateau spans. The entrance to the Chateau was on the occupied zone right bank. The South door gave access to the left bank and made it possible for the resistance to help large numbers of Jews and other vulnerable people escape into the free zone.

The Kitchens in Chenonceaux were fantastically appointed. We enjoyed wandering through and appreciating the various displays of kitchen utensils, copper pots, and vegetables.

The Castle grounds were meticulously appointed and we were able to to watch the army of gardeners install the next season’s plants. We felt it was spring/not quite summer today. After 30 degree weather in the south, today felt more like spring at home. It was overcast, drizzly and windy as we explored the grounds. We finished the labyrinth and started our trek to Chinon.

Chinon is more of a ruin than a functioning castle. The towers are impressive and we climbed every one of them on site. There has been a fort of some kind on this property since Roman times. None of the Roman influence remains.

By 1160, Henri II was using Chinon as the centre of his continental holdings. He was a busy guy who at one point was the ruler from Scotland to the Pyrenees mountains. He died in 1189 in Chinon but was buried in Abbey Fontevraud.

Another famous event occurred at Chinon in 1429. Joan of Arc was on her mission to support Charles IV, then the king of France, to defeat the English. The king supposedly put on the clothes of a commoner and had one of his colleagues pretend to be him. Joan didn’t fall for the trick and when presented to the court, she ignored the friend and picked the real king from the crowd. This is now called “the recognition” and was one of the reasons that the king decided to take Joan seriously.

The third major event connected to the castle occurred during the trials of the Knights Templar. Jacques de Mornay, the grand master of the knights was held in Cowdray’s Tower (an addition to the castle from 1209). De Mornay was held in the tower until he was taken to his death.

We exhausted ourselves by climbing one final tower, the bell tower. It was only 45 steps up to the floor below the bell. The view was great and I would have appreciated it more had the gale force winds not threatened to get me air borne.

We finished our day in Chinon by a visit to the wine shop next to where we had parked our car across from the castle. The vinyard on the hill immediately above the shop (Clos de ‘Echo) has been owned by the current vintners since 1921 and grows Cabernet Franc grapes. The products we tasted were delicious and we added a few bottles for our dinner tonight.

We have appreciated having our own kitchen facilities. Eating out involves more frites (aka French fries) than I normally consume. I am not too worried about that though because we have put in lots of steps every day and today’s stairs count was 23 floors. We are tired tonight but content with our day.

Tomorrow we shift gears and head north to Mount St. Michel. Stay tuned.