Chateau Chenonceau

Hi all!

This morning I got up and watched the first AFL game of the year. The iPad global pass mum and dad got me for Christmas works perfectly and I was able to stream the whole game live!! Made me feel a little homesick but at the end of the day this is the only time my whole life I'll miss a whole season. I'll be back for 2016 before we know it! 

And what a great start to the day that was - I got to watch Carlton lose AND Dale got injured in the opening minute! Pa, I really am your granddaughter haha. I hope it's not a serious injury or anything, just was kinda nice for karma to give one more time. 

The game ended about 1pm my time so I walked the 2 minutes to Chateau Chenonceau. I was so excited to finally be here to see it! I can remember when I was a little girl asking mum what the photo she had on the wall was, and it was Chenonceau. And then in high school Ian (my uncle) got me onto a show called 'Castles of Europe' that had a Chenonceau special. And now I'm finally here!!!!

Chateau Chenonceau as it exists today began to be built in the early 1500s. Thomas Bohier and his wife Katherine Briçonnet demolished the fortified castle and mill on the site and left only a tower (which still exists today). Today's castle was built on the site of the mill. Throughout the chateau's history it's been modified in various ways been occupied by various people, and there have been many famous ladies of Chateau Chenonceau...

When Henri II was king he gave the castle to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Apparently she was manipulative and awful, and she met Henri when she was 27 and he was 7! Diane is the one who started the building of the bridge extension on the chateau to reach the other bank of the Cher river (you'll see in the photos). When Henri II died, his wife Catherine de Medici demanded Diane give the chateau back to her and made her swap for a less impressive chateau. Weirdly enough (or not I guess, because a lot of royals in the past have been related) these two were second cousins. Catherine de Medici built two levels on the bridge turning it into a 'gallery' making the chateau bigger (the bridge gallery is 60m long by 6m wide). The next lady of Chenonceau was Louise of Lorraine, who claimed possession of the chateau when her husband Henri III died. She became a hermit and spent the rest of her days in the chateau in mourning, wearing white (the official royal colours of mourning) and painting the chateau black with silver death symbols. With Louise's death, the chateau fell into the hands of another Louise - Louise Dupin. The villagers really loved her because she was really kind, and this as well as her idea to turn the grounds into a timber reserve during the revolution protected the chateau during the French Revolution. Finally, Marguerite Pelouze restored the chateau to its renaissance glory. Woah that was a lot of history, but I wanted you guys to get an idea of what had happened to the chateau over the years!! 

I then went on my self guided audio tour. The insides were quite beautiful, but not as pretty as the outside I thought! I saw the guard room, the chapel, the kitchens, the gallery and various bedrooms, the most striking of which was Louise of Lorraine's which was all in black with silver death symbols. Very morbid and creepy!

The part i absolutely loved about the chateau's interior was the fresh flowers in every room. Apparently the staff of the chateau want guests to feel really welcome, so for this reason they have the fires going in the fireplaces and fresh flowers in each room which are changed twice a week by inside florists using flowers from the gardens. I especially liked the Easter themed ones with eggs and rabbits!!

After touring the inside of the chateau I went for a walk in the gardens. The sky was quite dark all day and it tried to rain a few times, but luckily for me it brightened up a little as well while I walked around! I walked through Catherine's gardens first, then Diane's. Both afforded beautiful views of the chateau! Then I went and looked at the labyrinth (and made my way out!), the caryatids and the exhibition about how the chateau was used as a military hospital during WWI. The owner at that time paid for everything from the conversion to a hospital to medical bills for soldiers. 

Lastly I walked through the 16th century farm on site and then the flower and vegetable garden (where the floral bouquets are picked from!). There were also some donkeys and cute goats on site!!

Bought my magnet and a little picture of Chenonceau (maybe if I have a daughter one day, she'll see mine and ask where it is and it'll inspire her to come here!!) and then stopped at the bakery on the way back.

Tomorrow I head to St Malo, in Brittany in France's northwest corner. I'm not sure what if anything will be open due to it being Good Friday so I stocked up on food just in case! Tonight I had the best dinner which consisted of some things I bought yesterday and today - bread, Brie (the best Brie I've ever had in my life. Words can't even describe...), a chocolate brioche, a cake and some wine. And the best part is the whole lot cost me about 15 euros max and will last me another day or so! 

See you tomorrow in Brittany!!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox

PS: Fun fact - for some reason the town Chenonceaux has an 'x' on the end but the name Chateau Chenonceau doesn't!