Saturday, July 7, 2012

A man's home is his castle...

Or, in this case, chateau.

Just got back from a lovely week in the Loire Valley, where the spouse, teenager, and I biked (or vanned) from chateau to chateau.

Following is a sampling of some of the lovely homes fit for a king (and his mistress) -- or a queen -- that we visited.

First up, Chambord, all 426 (or is it 440?) rooms of it -- and not a toilette to be found. Over the course of 32 years, Francois I only spent 72 days here -- and had his servants lug all of his furniture with them when they stayed there as the place was unfurnished.

It's good to be king.
















Looking for something a little more cozy? Try Chaumont, which has beautiful views of the Loire river.

















Or perhaps you'd prefer something with a moat? (I know I would.) Well then, I highly recommend Chenonceau.

















 Is gardening your passion? If so, Villandry is the chateau for you!

















Or if you prefer something a little smaller (that doesn't start with the letters ch) with a moat and a nice lawn, I highly recommend Azay-le-Rideau.
















And if an entire chateau is too much to handle, you can still be treated like a king (or at least a prince or a count) at the lovely Chateau de Brou, located not far from Chinon, the site of another chateau. (The spouse and I shared the Balzac room while the kid, lucky girl, stayed in Ronsard. Also, the food is superb.)

















Sigh. Definitely not your average front-to-back mid-century split level, though their heating and lawn maintenance bills are probably more than ours.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! I'm glad you had a good time. I can't wait to do a bike vacation with my girls (Miss C. just got her training wheels, so we've got a while to go!)

Anna

AlyssaGoodman said...

Having just sampled the German castles along the "Romantic Road" this week, I say these look "pfoofy" to me! Glad you had fun!!

Dave S. said...

Fine print in listing:
"Disgruntled peasants convey";
Real estate in France

Chateau de brou said...

Thank you for your article concerning the chateau de Brou. Unfortunatly our domain name was stolen and our website is now runing onto www.chateau-de-brou.com

Regards

J. said...

Thank you @Chateau de Brou. I have fixed the link.