We are just past mid-way of a two-week stay in Amboise, chateaux-hopping. Thought I%26#39;d provide some impressions thus far.
We%26#39;ve seen Chambord, Chenonceau, Villandry, Valençay, Amboise, Clos de Lucé, Beauregard, Chaumont-sur-Loire, d%26#39;Azay-Le-Rideau, Cheverny, and Montrésor. We%26#39;ll see a few more, unclear which ones.
We%26#39;ve also seen some towns and villages . . . Amboise, Loches, Montrichard, Vendôme, and the villages around the chateaux (which bear the same names). We%26#39;ve passed through Tours and Bois, but haven%26#39;t explored them, yet.
First point: Where you stay is key. We chose to rent a cottage and drive from there. Amboise is well located for seeing anything from slightly west of Tours to Chambord on the east. Beyond that distance, it would be too much driving for us, day after day.
Beyond location, Amboise doesn%26#39;t offer much. It lacks the charm of some of the smaller villages, and it gets crowded. If you are doing an extended trip, look into staying 3 days in each of several smaller villages and seeing the chateaux around there.
We%26#39;re using the Michelin green guide to the Loire and it is superb. Cannot recommend it highly enough. If this book says it, trust it, from what to see to what to eat. Our version is French but I assume there%26#39;s no difference with the English version.
If your time is limited, which chateaux to see depends on what is important to you. If you want history and that means kings and queens to you, then the usual biggies -- Chambord, Chenonceau, Amboise, Beauregard simply for its portrait gallery (as well as Chinon, Blois and Tours, which we haven%26#39;t seen yet). If history for you includes Talleyrand, then Valençay is a must. If it%26#39;s absolute beauty, it%26#39;s different -- Chenonceau, Cheverny, Villandry (gardens, of course, but the chateau itself, too), maybe d%26#39;Azay-Le-Rideau, and Amboise and Chaumont-sur-Loire strictly for the settings and not for the buildings.
Biggest disappointment: Chambord. My least favorite. Intended as a Renaissance masterpiece, but has the feel of a Gothic clump of stones with some Renaissance towers tacked on and one big Renaissance staircase to show off.
Biggest positive surprises: Valençay and Cheverny, and the town of Vendôme . . . .
While Valençay and Cheverny are high on most lists, they were better for me than expected. Valençay%26#39;s overall impact is awesome, counting the building, the furnishings, the setting, and the history. It%26#39;s not quite Chenonceau, but it%26#39;s close.
Cheverny is just a jewel in every respect (except big-time history). It%26#39;s the one that gives you a feel for what a wonderful life these places offered in their hey-days, as it still retains the feel of real people having lived there (as they did until very recently, and left their furnishings). (Villandry offers quite a dose of this %26quot;real life%26quot; feeling, too).
Vendôme is not in the Loire Valley, but rather the Loir Valley just north, and we wouldn%26#39;t have seen it had we not needed to pass through on the way to dinner at some friends%26#39; country home. Vendôme is worth a special trip. It%26#39;s known as %26quot;little Venice%26quot; for its canals (diversions of the Loir, and the Loir itself), and it has always been the center of a prosperous area so there are many grand houses right in town. Good restaurants, too (one of which we ate in the day after our friends%26#39; dinner party).
As an aside, the countryside of the Loir Valley is even prettier than the Loire Valley (less crowded, hillier, more sweeping in general, and the Loir is a more picturesque river), but unfortunately there are no great chateaux there (although there are some smaller ones). If you%26#39;re driving down from Paris, and have the time, the Loir is worth a day or two of just meandering around.
Maybe more when we%26#39;re finished.
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Great report, Punta! Don%26#39;t miss Blois, especially if you have the chance to take a guided tour, it%26#39;s really interesting (the light-and-sound show is good too, if a bit basic %26quot;history-wise%26quot;.)
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I am pleased you like the Loir - much like the Cher, Indrois and Vienne rivers, i.e pretty, rather than the Loire which is a bit meh to to eyes.
Check out Montpoupon if you havent already
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Wizard, the Cher at Chenonceau is beautiful. From inside the chateau, it doesn%26#39;t look real, but more like a painting. We%26#39;ve also seen the Cher at Bléré and Selles-sur-Cher, where it is pretty as well. Of course, in Tours it runs through the south side of the city, which seems to be pretty much an industrial park, so that man-made abomination can%26#39;t be held against the river. I%26#39;ve seen the other two you mention on maps, but don%26#39;t immediately recall them.
Montpoupon is close by, so we%26#39;ll try to get there.
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Thanks for posting such a great trip report,,on this specific area in France.I really apprieciate the time you have taken to really see the area,, and all your insights and opinions are well presented.
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The Indrois is the river that flows through Loches, The Vienne id further west (or south) and flows theorugh Chatellerault.
It%26#39;s what attracted us to the area, the river valleys
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Wiz
Have you been been at the fermented grape juice before the sun has gone over the yard arm again?
It is the Indre which flows through Loches, and eventually into the Loire, hence the name of the Départment %26quot;Indre et Loire%26quot;.
The Indrois is a smaller tributary of the Indre, which flows into the Indre at Azay-sur-Indre.
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You will encounter the Vienne at Chinon. A wonderful place and as important historically as all the others. The chateaux, in English terms, is a castle rather than a palace.
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Sunlover
I have my own yardarm. If the sun isn%26#39;t over it when I say, I buy a new one.
You%26#39;re right of course. We almost bought a house in Loches sur Indrois so I should have remembered. I will now claim a typo/malicious keyboard.
Montresor is on the Indrois, so the OP will have seen it there.
Simon
http://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com
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Okay, now I know what I%26#39;ve been seeing -- the Indre at Loches and the Indrois at Montresor, right? Montresor, of course, is on the list of most beautiful villages in France, and deservedly so. Loches is also no slouch.
Yesterday we explored Tours and today Blois. We did not visit the chateau in Tours, but we did visit the chateau in Blois. I was not impressed at all by Tours, probably because it was important enough to be bombed pretty heavily in WWII and has the resulting %26quot;rebuilt%26quot; feel, except for the tiniest of historical districts. Blois as a town was impressive, unusually hilly for this area, quite charming. The chateau at Blois is a weird jumble of styles from the outside but surprisingly warm inside, and the restoration of the walls, ceilings and floors to their Renaissance glory (which has been going on continuously since around 1840) makes it special. Obviously, chock-full of royal history as well.
My wife is chateau%26#39;d out, so we are almost surely going to miss Chinon (and the Vienne).
However, she badly wants to see Serrant, all the way west of Angers, and we are thinking of doing that the day we leave Amboise (we%26#39;ll then turn south to make our way over a few days to a wedding in the Bordeaux). The trusty Michelin guide gives Serrant three stars, the equal of Chenonceau, Cheverney, and a very few others. Apparently, it%26#39;s supposed to have the best furnishings of any chateau, and generally be top notch. I%26#39;d be interested in the views of anyone who has seen it and can compare it to the others. What say you -- worth the detour?
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You are not alone. I have to confess, a lot of people who visit the Loire valley get %26quot;château-ed out%26quot; after a couple of days. Take time out to take in the countryside and some of the gardens to the north of the Loire valley in the Pays de la Loire, or head for the Lower Loire and the sea for a bit of contrast.
Unless you%26#39;re a student of aRenaissance French architecture, Loire châteaux can get a bit boring and all blend into one amorphous mass of turrets, staircases and formal gardens (as a garden lover - the WORST kind!!!) after a couple of days.
My opinion - others will differ.
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