July 4th- Part I

I love France. It is by far one of my favorite countries in the world. So much so, that it is my grand plan to one day buy a house and retire somewhere in the countryside. There is something about it- the food, the people, the language- that brings me to my knees. I am what people call a Francophile, someone who loves everything French!

This 4^th of July weekend will be the second in a row that I spend in France. Last year, I lived a dream of my own buy driving through the Loire Valley. A close family friend of ours, Karine, owns some property in a small village called Ponçay, about three hours south of Paris. She and her daughter were to be in France for the summer and invited me to spend the weekend with them.

It is roughly an eight hour drive from my home in Wiesbaden, Germany to Ponçay and the drive would take me through the Loire Valley. For those of you who do not know about the Loire, or the Valley of the Kings, it is an valley  spanning around 280 km that is full of some of the most beautiful  châteaux in the world. When the French Kings began to built castles in the Valley to escape from life in Paris, many of the nobility began to build as well, so they wouldn’t be far from the King.

I wanted to get an early start of Friday morning so I could see as many castles as I could before meeting up with Karine, so I decided to drive five hours to Chartres. I had recently purchased a brand new BMW X3, my deployment gift to myself, and decided that I would save some money by sleeping in my car that evening. I arrived in Chartres at around 10pm, and found an underground garage where I settled in for the night.  It was a miserable night’s sleep. I am a giant, and could not stretch out to save my life, even in an SUV! I was able to get a few hours of sleep, and awoke the next morning ready to start my day.

Chartre Cathedral

 







I had purchased a book call “Back Roads of France” from Eyewitness Travel, which plans driving routes through France.  I used this as my guide to decide which châteaux would be on my list. I only had one day (the book suggests four), so I had to limit my tour to only a handful. I began with a tour of Montrésor, a tiny picturesque village with a small castle built in 1005 and restyled in around 1500. I was the first person of the day to arrive, and so had the entire castle to myself.

Village of  Montrésor

 

I left Montrésor and continued on to the town of Amboise. This particular castle had a very interesting history. In my back roads book I read that “in 1516, King François I enticed Leonardo da Vinci to France and gave him the nearby Clos Lucé manor house, where the artist died in 1519.” There is a small memorial built for the painter on the grounds of Amboise.

 

 

Bust of Leonardo de Vinci

What I loved the most about driving through the Loire, was the history. Every château had its own story, making every place I visited a history lesson that connected like a spider’s web. Some châteaux I had seen pictures of previously, and others I discovered along the way. One that I was determined to see was the château of Chenonceaux.

I learned a lot during my tour here about two very prominent women during the reign of King Henri II.  Chenonceau was a gift to Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566) as a gift from Henri II.  According to my back roads book “Diane de Poitiers was one of the most influential figures at the court of Henri II. Twenty years older than Henri, she was appointed to teach the young prince manners, but later became the kings mistress. He adored her, and as king even consulted her on official business.  Chenonceau was given to her as a personal residence. This was predictably resented by his Italian queen Catherine de Medicis (15-19-1589), and when Henri was killed while jousting, she wasted no time in seizing Chenonceau for herself and expelling Diane to Chamont.”

 

Intrigued by this tidbit of history, I decided to visit Chamont next. It is a beautiful castle overlooking the Loire river, and every summer there is a garden exhibition where different designers come and decorate a piece of the garden under the theme of the year.

 

 View of Chamont from across the river

Along the route between châteaux, there are charming little villages with their own piece of history. In one such village, which I believe to be Orbigny, there was a monument that I stopped to look at. It was originally dedicated to the fallen Soldiers from the area during WWI. Since, names have been added for WWII and Algiers.

 

 

My next stop was Cheverny, which is the only château that still has a family in residence.

 

 

The last castle I visited was Chambord, built by King Francis I, a King that I have studied in detail due to his reign being at the same time as King Henry VIII.  It is the largest château that I saw, with jaw dropping architecture.  All though a little cold and bare on the inside, the double spiral staircases believed to have been designed by Leonardo de Vinci are not to be missed.

Taken from the roof

I would be meeting Karine on Saturday morning in Blois, so that is where I decided to rest my head. I found a little hotel right on the river which had a spare room at only 20 euro for the night.

 View of the city from my hotel

 

I met with Karine and her daughter the next morning, and followed them to Ponçay. When we pulled into the driveway, I almost fainted. Her home was incredible. It was located, quite frankly, in the middle of nowhere surrounded by wheat fields and rolling hills. To the leftof the driveway was a a plot of land where she had a mule and a donkey. To the right was her home, a former monestary from the 16th Century that she had transformed into a beautiful estate. There were three seperate houses, along with what was the former stables and the ruins from the chapel that dated back to 1117. The courtyart was grass, with a small fountain filled with koi at the center. The main house was at the back of the courtyard, next to the church ruins. To the right was a small cottage that was used as a guest house as well as Karine’s art studio, and the place that I would be staying for the weekend. To the left was were the stables which had yet to be renovated, but which housed antiques and art sculptures created by Karine’s late uncle. Next to the stables, attached to the garage was another small cottage.

 

Behind the main house was a beautiful garden and swimming pool. Karine, along with being a gifted artist, was a talented gardener and the entire estate was surround by rose bushes. It was one of the most relaxing weekends of my life. I spent it lounging by the pool, trimming the rose bushes, taking daily trips to the local markets, and painting. I am not an artist, and had never painted before that weekend. The calming effect that it had on me inspired me, and I have been painting regularly ever since. I even painted a map of the world on a canvas 3ft tall, and 4ft long that I have hanging over my bed. This weekend sealed my love of France, and created the idea of my dream home for the future.

And so with great excitement, I have begun the planning for my upcoming trip to the South of France!