Medieval Chivalry

Vicki, Mario, Maggie and the kids went to a chivalry show held in the stables of Chambord . It was very impressive with a storyline based on François 1er, who commissioned the castle.

His fondness for horses and pretty ladies was a good excuse for showing fancy dressage moves.

Then a quartet of knights displayed their skills,

including blowing up gas-filled balloons with their fire-tipped lances,

and some spectacular equestrian acrobatics at full gallop.

A young spectator was called in to help give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to an "exhausted" horse in this very funny skit.

And then came time for a tournament between François 1er and Henry VIII, in a re-enactment of a meeting of the two kings that took place in June 1520. Here's François representing Les Bleus.

And Henry representing Les Rouges.

First, the jousting at full speed with splintering lances,

axe fighting,

and sword fighting,

with François winning the battle, of course...

In the end, our own knights are inspecting the horses and riders.

A Visit to Chambord

The last castle that we visited in the Loire was the largest: the castle at Chambord. Built in the French Renaissance style, it boasts over 400 rooms. Its grounds cover the same area as inner Paris!

It was built by François 1er, who was influenced by the Italian architecture he'd seen. We found the ornate towers and chimneys very impressive.

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One of the most unique features of the castle was its double staircase. It was like walking up or down a double helix. Two people could start at the bottom, each at a different staircase and see each other at different moments in their ascent or descent, but never actually meet until the end of their walk. It is presumed to have been designed by Leonardo da Vinci.

The beauty of the architecture can be seen in the photos below.

We lucked in with the weather, which afforded us beautiful views from the rooftop terraces.

All the walking in and around such a huge property was just too much for Michael at one point, so he just had to have a siesta. He will be a benchmark of our day's adventure!

Having already seen three other ornately-furnished castles, the interior of this one, scale aside, seemed like "just another one of those castles." We couldn't help but be impressed, though, with this portait of Louis XIV. In his day, he would have inspired shoe envy among all the drag queens!

Our two monkeys, Tristan and Joy, were especially excited to find portaits of THEIR ancestors among the artwork on display in the castle.

After a full investigation of this vast property, we were happy to relax at a cafe on the grounds before heading home.

A night out for Mario and Vicki

Alan, Michael and Maggie kindly offered to take care of the kids and allow Vicki and Mario to go out for a nice dinner in the nearby town of Saint-Aignan.

It is a lovely small town on the bank of the Cher River.

Narrow cobble streets

Old buildings made of wood beams and bricks

 A splendid Romanesque church built beginning in 1080!

There's even a miracle chapel. Bonus!

A fine Renaissance castle that could benefit from some restoration.

Isn't she lovely?

In front of the aptly named Le Mange-Grenouille.

Married 19 years and still having fun.

Spectacular looking and wonderfully tasty food

Tristan and Joy at Moulinsart (aka Malinspike Hall)

It all started when Tristan and Joy heard of a castle for sale in the Loire region.

However, as the sign shows, Capt. Haddock had already bought the castle. This did not stop them from poking around the place looking for the famous model of the Unicorn.

But the next thing they knew, they were stuck in the crypt of the castle. Luckily, being the resourceful kids they are, they joined forces together and devised a battering ram to poke a hole in the wall.

This allowed them to get to Professor Calculus' lab and see some of his inventions, like the shark-shaped submarine and the ultrasound cannon.

On their way out, the checked to see if one of the suits of armour lying around might fit them.

And as in all good stories, in the end, everything went well and they were able to have a more normal visit to the castle.

Cheverny

Cheverny is the third castle we've visited in the Loire and it is quite different from the other two that we've seen. Because it was built rather quickly and not changed since, the Louis XIII architectural style is very harmonious. The current residents are descendants of the original owners and live in the right wing of the castle, so we were able to view only the left wing and central part of the castle.

Like all the castles we've seen, Cheverny is beautifully furnished. It's evident that the owners have a great appreciation for their hunting hounds, as you can see if you look carefully at the dinnerware and table linens in the photo below.

It is interesting that literature and music are often intertwined, as seen in the library.

We were very impressed with the furnishings for the children, including a working scale model of a sewing machine with similarly-sized clothing to go with it.

There were several beautiful clocks in the castle, including this one.

Though the gardens here were not as magnificent as those at Chenonceau, they still had their special features, including this pansy among the greenery.

One of the most striking trees was this linden tree with its branches resting on the ground.

The "jardin potager" had lots of vegetables,but also some beautiful flowers.

All of the walking around the grounds of the castle not only tired out Michael, but aged him too!

As mentioned earlier, the owners had a great love of dogs and one of the features of this castle was their kennels with 100 adult hounds (one third of them females) and 47 puppies. They are English-French Tricolors, and weigh about 100 lbs.Through conversations with one of the three trainers, we learned a lot. Firstly, female hounds are better hunters than males and more belligerent - no comment! The dogs are fed once daily - 1 kg of food per hound during hunting season and 400 g each in the off-season. Hunting season is from mid-September to the end of March, during which the hounds hunt twice weekly, mostly for deer. We were amazed at how laid-back they seemed, given that there are so many of them living together.

Five o'clock is feeding time and it's a big tourist attraction at Cheverny. First, the hounds are evacuated from their "play area" so it can be hosed down. Then a green wagonload of chicken is brought in and spread across the floor in a line. Next, a huge bag of kibble is liberally sprinkled over the chicken.

If you want to know how to feed a half-ton of chicken meat to 100 hounds at once, watch this 20 second video. You'll be amazed!