Cheverny and Chambord

For our second chateaux day, we went east and started at Cheverney.  One of the few chateaux that is still owned by the original family and is open to visitors.

Part of the chateau's fame is that it serves as the model for the mansion in Tin Tin.  They even have a Tin Tin museum.  Unfortunately, none of us (except maybe Judy) is a huge Tin Tin fan, so we skipped the museum.  

The family that owns the house is a hunting family, and they keep over 100 hunting dogs who are fed publicly at 11:30 each morning.  We knew we wanted to see the dogs.  We also wanted to tour the grounds.  They offer a golf cart and boat tour.  Looking at what we wanted to do and our timetable, we decided the best place to start was with the house.  We got a preview of the dogs inside.

They were also doing a special Lego event, so many of the rooms had impressive Lego creations.  Of course, there were Lego dogs.

And an entire Lego Cheverny.

We also found a suit of armor, just about the right size for Elena.

We got through the house pretty quickly, and then went over to see the dogs.  Everyone else had the same idea though, so it was impossible to get right next to the kennels.  We lifted the girls up so that they could see all the dogs, and that was that.  It was a bit underwhelming, but we had promised the girls dogs, they saw dogs, and they were satisfied.  

Next up was what turned out to be the highlight of the visit, the nature tour.  First we got in an electric golf cart.  It was quiet ;-) They used the golf carts to take us to boats, and then we went down a little river.  It was lovely.

We had planned a little bit better for lunch on this day, and we knew there were several restaurants near the chateau.  We ended up at a pizza and pasta place called Pinocchio's.  Vivian had also suckered Judy into getting her a knight and horse set in the gift shop.  Judy and Mom had some fun with the new toys.

Our next stop was Chambord.  It's inside a HUGE park, a large part of which has been turned into a national park with lots of camping spots and trails for exploring.  Elena fell asleep in the car, and Mom and Judy were pretty worn out, so we left them at a nice shady cafe on the grounds and Jeff, Vivian, Dad, and I went in.  This chateau was Francois I's pet project.  

No record of the architect survives, but Leonardo da Vinci definitely contributed to the finished product.  One of his contributions was the double helix staircase.  At first glance, it looks like one staircase, but it's actually two intertwining staircases.

There are windows between the staircases, so that you can see who's going up and down the other one.  When you look up the middle, you can see them all.

We had fun with it.  Jeff and I went up one staircase and Vivian and Grandpa went up the other.  There are three floors for touring.  The palace is HUGE, and you can still smell the smoke from the huge fires that have been lit in the huge fireplaces.  They offer "histopads" as their tablet audio tour option, and they had a special price on three, so Jeff, Vivian, and I each got one.  It was really cool because it had a map, so that you could see where you were in the chateau.  There was an explanation for each room, and some of the rooms had interactive historical overlays, so that you could see what it looked like in a different time period.  It also had a treasure hunt, with ten old coins which you virtually found in various rooms throughout the castle.  We had a lot of fun with it, but we had to keep reminding ourselves to look up from our screens and take some pictures of our non-virtual surroundings.  My favorite decoration is the F with the fire breathing salamander that is engraved everywhere.  The salamander was Francois's symbolic animal.

Jeff thought the gallery of trophies was pretty impressive.

Before it was used for camping, that big park was apparently a great place to go hunting.  We also went to see the chapel, which is where many of the Louvre's treasures were kept for safety during WWII.

Finally, we went back outside and met up with everyone.  As we were walking back to the parking lot, we found some great places for pictures.

It was a lovely day and a lovely visit.  Since Elena had had a nap, she was in a good mood for dinner again.  Still, we didn't want to push our luck.  Mom, Dad, and Judy went into Blois for a fancy dinner, while we stayed at the hotel.  The girls had really liked the kids' menu option there (turkey breast with mushroom sauce and noodles with butter), so we got that for them again.  Elena spent most of dinner playing with her toys, and the various bottle tops and wine corks we no longer needed.

When the evenings are nice and clear, it's balloon weather, so we saw several flying over us.  The girls get so excited, and Elena likes to count them.

We're planning a hot air balloon adventure of our own next week in Dordogne.  It will be Jeff's birthday present, since a hot air balloon ride has been on his list for quite a while.