Currents
May 2019
Globetrotter
MAID FOR TODAY
954-968-0063
By: Max Edwards
HOME CLEANING!
Fairytale Castles in the Loire
Of France’s 1000 extant castles, 42 in the Loire
Valley are accorded UNESCO World Heritage status.
The Loire chateaux (country houses), models of ele-
gance and ostentation, exemplify the break with
French medieval fortress style. Each chateau is a
history lesson, suffused with architectural grandiosity,
and peerless furnishings. Here, one finds the apex
of Renaissance France.
Chateaux day tours from Paris are frequent, but a
car offers better access to the Loire’s 124-mile long,
62-mile wide area. The drive from Paris is two
hours, or one hour from either Orleans or Chartres.
Loire castle architecture owes much to Italy. A
1494 war waged in Italian city states exposed French
aristocracy to the palatial comforts enjoyed by Italian
nobility. Italian artisans followed France’s Charles
VIII upon his return from Naples in 1495. The new
castles, in Flamboyant Gothic or Italian styles,
demanded interiors replete with carved architraves,
artistic boiserie and marquetry, imported silks, Flem-
ish tapestries, and oratories (private chapels). Loire
chateaux emerged as the resort of kings, particularly
of the Valois dynasty, often housing entire royal
courts.
Chambord, the largest chateau, with 440 rooms,
built as a hunting reserve for Francis I, requires a
day to explore. View the exterior, at least.
For devotees of Leonardo da Vinci’s scientific
genius, Chateau Clos-Lucé is a must. Clos-Lucé,
where da Vinci’s lived for three years (and died),
today houses a museum in which IBM has replicated
da Vinci’s inventions, the largest display of its kind.
Chenonceau, gifted by King Henry II to his mis-
tress, Diane de Poitiers, is oft deemed the most
beautiful, its iconic graceful arches spanning the
Cher river. After the king’s death, his wife, Catherine
de’ Medici, forced de Poitiers to return Chenonceau.
Fiction pales in Chenonceau’s historical wake.
continued on page 12 >
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