Bicycling Along the Loire to Chambourd

Monday Erin, Hannah and I planned a bike ride to Chambourd Castle (Chateau de Chambourd, Loire-et-Cher, one of the grandest in France.

It was around 20 kilometers to the castle, and of course I had to stop along the way to take a few photos. We rode on the opposite side of the river from Blois, so had a view of the church and chateau there just as we started out. We saw these chickens (they weren’t so close…I had a zoom) which looked very happy wandering in a garden, and a “small” chateau across the river. We went through a few small, picturesque towns too.

starred photos Chambourd and Blois-131starred photos Chambourd and Blois-132starred photos Chambourd and Blois-133starred photos Chambourd and Blois-005starred photos Chambourd and Blois-006starred photos Chambourd and Blois-011starred photos Chambourd and Blois-111starred photos Chambourd and Blois-016starred photos Chambourd and Blois-018starred photos Chambourd and Blois-125starred photos Chambourd and Blois-126starred photos Chambourd and Blois-127starred photos Chambourd and Blois-129

 

The castle was commissioned by Francois 1er of France and his initials and the salamanders that were his talisman are everywhere too. The château features 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces, and 84 staircases, but the central double helix staircase, which may have been designed by Leonardo DeVinci is the outstanding feature of the chateau. The castle was always meant as a hunting lodge, not as a fortress. It was built in the 1600s. Francoise 1er spent less than three months in the chateau during his lifetime, but did manage to host one of his rivals, King Charles V of Spain at Chambourd one time. Francoise 1er was called “big nose” for a reason.

DSC08006starred photos Chambourd and Blois-021starred photos Chambourd and Blois-024starred photos Chambourd and Blois-025starred photos Chambourd and Blois-027starred photos Chambourd and Blois-030starred photos Chambourd and Blois-032starred photos Chambourd and Blois-034starred photos Chambourd and Blois-035starred photos Chambourd and Blois-037starred photos Chambourd and Blois-038starred photos Chambourd and Blois-042starred photos Chambourd and Blois-044starred photos Chambourd and Blois-046starred photos Chambourd and Blois-047starred photos Chambourd and Blois-049starred photos Chambourd and Blois-051starred photos Chambourd and Blois-053starred photos Chambourd and Blois-054starred photos Chambourd and Blois-055starred photos Chambourd and Blois-056starred photos Chambourd and Blois-057starred photos Chambourd and Blois-059starred photos Chambourd and Blois-061starred photos Chambourd and Blois-062starred photos Chambourd and Blois-063starred photos Chambourd and Blois-064starred photos Chambourd and Blois-066starred photos Chambourd and Blois-069starred photos Chambourd and Blois-071starred photos Chambourd and Blois-074starred photos Chambourd and Blois-075starred photos Chambourd and Blois-077starred photos Chambourd and Blois-080

After walking all over the chateau, we had crepes for lunch, and Erin and Hannah did a small wine tasting before we headed back to Blois. It took us nearly all day for this outing, since we got a late start (the bike company, which was a stand by Blois Chateau wasn’t open at 9 when we first looked for it….then we found out that most bakeries were closed on Monday mornings in France, so we had to hike back to the train station to get sandwiches…). It started raining too on the way back, so we ended up crashing early and getting ready for our last day in France…stay tuned!

2 responses to “Bicycling Along the Loire to Chambourd

  1. I loved following your travels in France, particularly these photos of Blois as I did a language study abroad there in college in 1984. Haven’t been back since. Maybe one of these days… for tennis too.

  2. Great photos & history of the castle! Loire reminds me of the Midi canal that I enjoyed from a house boat! It had great bike trails, too. Wonderful time for Erin & her daughter
    Many thanks for your reports, & congrats on your tennis too! 🏸🎾💜🎶💕

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.