- Chateau de Chantilly/Musee Conde (Ile de France): Anne de Montmorency, a constable of France who advised six monarchs, began this palace in 1560. To save costs, he ordered the new building placed atop the foundations of a derelict castle. His descendants enlarged and embellished the premises, added the massive stables, and hired Le Notre to design gardens that later inspired Louis XVI to create similar, larger ones at Versailles.
- Chateau de Versailles (Ile de France): Versailles is the most spectacular palace in the world. Its construction was fraught with ironies and tragedies, and its costs were a factor in the bloodbath of the French Revolution. Ringed with world-class gardens and a network of canals whose excavation required an army of laborers, the site also contains the Grand and Petit Trianons as well as miles of ornate corridors lined with the spoils of a vanished era.
- Palais de Fontainebleau (Ile de France): Since the days of the earliest Frankish kings, the forest has served as a royal hunting ground. Various dwellings had been erected for medieval kings, but in 1528, Francois I commissioned the core of the building that subsequent monarchs would enlarge and embellish. Napoleon declared it his favorite chateau, delivering an emotional farewell to his troops from its exterior staircase after his 1814 abdication.
- Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau (Loire Valley): Visitors are enthralled by this chateau's beauty. Poised above the waters of the Indre River, it boasts decorative remnants of medieval fortifications and an atmosphere that prefigures the Renaissance embellishments of later Loire Valley chateaux.
- Chateau de Chambord (Loire Valley): Despite the incorporation (probably by Michelangelo) of feudal trappings in its layout, this chateau was built for pleasure -- a manifestation of the successes of the 21-year-old Francois I. Begun in 1519 as the Loire Valley's most opulent status symbol, Chambord heralded the end of the feudal age and the dawn of the Renaissance. After military defeats in Italy, a chastened Francois rarely visited, opting to live in chateaux closer to Paris.
- Chateau de Chenonceau (Loire Valley): Its builders daringly placed this palace, built between 1513 and 1521, on arched stone vaults above the rushing Cher River. Two of France's most influential women, each of whom imposed her will on Renaissance politics and the chateau's design, fought over Chenonceau. Henri II gave the palace to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. After the king's death, his widow, Catherine de Medicis, humiliated Diane by forcing her to move to a less prestigious chateau in nearby Chaumont.
France Travel Experiences
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Cycling France: Le Tour de Yum!!!
Before we arrived in France, I was worried it might be boring after all our adventures in less obvious destinations. In retrospect,... Continue reading »
