Chambord Castle

One of my favorite places south of Paris is the Loire Valley, not only for the wines, country cuisine but the for the beautiful castles i the area. My favorite castle of all of the castles in Loire Valley is Chambord Castle. Chambord is the largest castle in the Loire Valley, but was primarily built to serve as a hunting lodge for Francois I. The castle was never actually completed and had several owners throughout France's history on of them of which has Comte de Chambord. The castle was constructed by King Francois I in part to be near his mistress the Comtesse de Thoury, Claude Rohan, wife of Julien de Clemont, a member of a very important family in France. it is not uncommon in French history that royals built elaborate castles to be closed to their mistresses and in some cases they actually built castles for their mistresses!

The castle has approximately 450 rooms and at least 356 fireplaces. I made it mission to visit every room even those rooms which had been closed to the general public due to safety reasons. I actually climbed on to the ledge of the castle to take photos. On the grounds is a fantastic restaurant and souvenir shop. Of course, I purchased several bottles of Chambord and sampled food made with Chambord. After running around the castle and visiting the stables I tried to image what it was like to stay at Chambord during the days of Francois I, Napoleon, Louis XIV, Louis XV and Comte de Chambord. It took us at least 4 hours or more to travel to the Loire Valley by car from Paris, my day started at 7:00 AM. But these noble gentlemen would travel for days and weeks to make this journey to this fabulous castle. The hunting trips would have an average of at least 1000 or more people, i.e. servants, hunting equipment, horses, dogs, wine, water and extra food and of course the occasional ladies in waiting would join them as well. One floor of the castle was dedicated to the dogs to run freely ;-), on some trips it was believed there was upwards to 500 dogs or more.

The next time you are in Paris, visit the castles of the Loire Valley: Chambord, Chenonceau and Cheverny commonly called the 3-Cs of the Loire Valley. Of all the castles, I visited in the Loire Valley, Chambord to me is the most beautiful for its architecture, history, and the awesome views. PS King Louis XIV and XV loved to party there pictures of them in every castle I visited apparently they were frequent dinner guest - LOL such party animals. I have added a few of my photos taken at Chambord, for your viewing pleasure - enjoy!

Until next time, remember "Any Day is a Perfect Day for Chocolate!"


a plus tard!


Robyn