"And 6 September was also the birthday of the Loire Valley’s renaissance star, the glorious Chateau de Chambord, 500 years old, and hardly aged a day."
In our first trip to Europe in 1972, we rented a car in the middle of Paris and amazingly found our way out to spend the first night in Versailles and then on to visiting various chateaux in the Loire Valley. The most memorable was Chambord. Of course, we had never seen anything like this before...quite magical. Of course, Verseilles was pretty amazing as well...almost too much to take in as I remember. We enjoyed the chateaux more. Perhaps because they were in very beautiful natural settings.
We're not really attracted by formal gardens and all the ornate stuff that Versailles is all about. I guess that's why we're so attracted to the simplicity of mid century architecture.
We're not really attracted by formal gardens and all the ornate stuff that Versailles is all about. I guess that's why we're so attracted to the simplicity of mid century architecture.
"Chambord is dazzling and unlike any other Chateau. The great French writer Victor Hugo said of it “All magic… all madness is represented in the bizarreness of this palace of fairy kings and queens”. And, he’s right, this really does look like a magical castle, with an ethereal air, almost delicate but over powering at the same time. Teeming with turrets and towers, gleaming white stone contrasts with its pointy black slate roof, it is a magnificent display of power and taste."
