Tours

Chateau de Chenonceau
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This ancient town is reputedly the birthplace of the French language and where you will hear the purest French spoken in the country. Our vocab was still limited to just a dozen words so we wouldn’t have known the difference anyway. With an old town centre on the river bank of the Loire Valley, Tours (pronounced Tour) has lots of tiny shopping streets and cafes. The main square was full of cafe tables and lined with half-timbered medieval houses, making it a great place to relax and have a drink.

Chateau de Amboise
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Tours is also the hub for tourists wanting to visit more of the Loire Valley, which is famous for its wine and grand old chateaus. We took a half day tour to see two of the best of these chateaus: Chenonceau and Amboise.

famous for its wine and grand old chateaus

Originally built on the site of an old river mill sometime prior to the 11^th century, Chateau de Chenonceau straddles the River Cher on a series of piers and arches built into the riverbed, with terraced gardens and a beautiful guard tower on the northern bank. Progressively added to by French royalty who used it as a countryside retreat, the chateau now features dozens of rooms with magnificent period furniture, decor and artwork. The basement kitchens had been built inside two of the stone piers, with a bridge joining the two sections together over a boat landing stage. The kitchens were upgraded during World War I when the main halls above were used as a hospital ward. The original butchery blocks, cast iron stoves and copper kitchenware are all still in-situ. In the surrounding woodland estate we found huge vegetable gardens, farmhouses and a hedge maze.

Dark skies behind the Gothic spires of Chateau de Amboise
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The second chateau was situated on a hilltop overlooking the river in the centre of Amboise. Also a favourite retreat for French royalty, the existing Gothic and Renaissance buildings are only a remaining fraction of the original fortress which had been extensively damaged and demolished during the French Revolution. What remains was still fascinating to look around. The royal apartments had been restored to how they would have originally appeared. A small chapel adjoining the chateau is reputedly the resting place of Leonardo Da Vinci. The great artist and inventor spent his final years living here at the invitation of King Francois I.