Loire Valley Part One: Chambord

Hello lovelies! I’ve been away slowly dying a joyous dissertation death, but everything’s going (suspiciously) well at the moment and I thought I would regale you with the story of my trip to the Loire Valley in France! This is part One of Three; I went to lots of châteaux and couldn't possibly fit everything into one post. Pro tip: going to stuff on the off season means you might be wandering through a giant castle completely on your own and it's like you own it, but without having to worry about taking care of it. Head this way for great big fancy castles made by big fancy gents!

 I went to France for a week to hang out with some family friends in the Loire Valley, which is where the Renaissance princes built their enormous château and went hunting and such. I haven’t seen every manor in England, but so far I can see that French princes and kings knew what was UP when it came to building outrageously huge houses. The biggest and baddest is definitely Chambord (which is apparently also where they make Chambord liqueur in the cool sphere bottle that I’ve never tried). It was super classy and I'm pleased to report that in winter French château have working fireplaces that are the size of my current bedroom and thus very toasty. Also, there was a huge menacing fog that descended on us in about thirty minutes out of nowhere. It lasted the entire time I was in France and the ambiance was GREAT. But that explains why the first two pictures are dreary and the rest are in full Technicolor.

François I built this one, and he was by all accounts a sassy and fabulous monarch. Sadly we didn’t learn anything about him in school, but he was a member of the House of Valois who was strutting around at the beginning of the 16th century. François was really into the Renaissance and was a famous patron of the arts and humanities. He also knew what he was doing when he built this place, because it's both outrageous and tasteful at the same time.

Chambord is famous for these giant octagonal staircases, which are on the outside and interior of the château. They’re definitely made for royal people, because you have to walk really slowly and carefully down them as there’s no hand rail, but I figure if you’re the Queen of France you probably enjoy floating down staircases at no one’s pace but your own. Also I do not envy all the people that had to go up or down these monsters with a torch in the middle of the night. Not a 'torch' as in the British word for flashlight, but a giant stick on fire.

The only picture of the inside that was remotely salvageable (dark castle lighting and all) was this incredible snippet that I wish would be my life. One of my many past lives was definitely in 18th century France, and even if I wasn't rich I would want a damn secretary desk, because they are just nice. I wouldn't really enjoy scratchy quill pens.

The moral if the story is this: if there's a major revolution going on in a country with a huge aristocracy, keep an eye on royal residences because they might get abandoned and repossessed by the state (as happened here), but in between you can probably squat there for a few years. Otherwise, you can go during the off season and mostly have the place to yourself! It's a pretty good feeling.

Stay tuned for Part Two: Amboise!