Unique day in the Loire Valley, especially if you love Gardens!
In the summer of 2019, Mr. C. and I took a trip to France in memory of an aunt of mine who had passed away the previous year. This aunt, who had always wished to go to France but never managed to get there, especially loved gardens and medieval history. To honor her, I planned this day in the Loire Valley. Enjoy!
Take a lazy morning in your Airbnb if you’re staying in the Loire valley. Your first stop, Chateau Chaumont sur Loire does not open until ten in the morning and if you stay at this lovely little Airbnb in Champigny en Beauce, you’re about a forty minute drive away. Have a leisurely coffee in bed and enjoy the view out the balcony window.
10:00am- Try to arrive at Chateau Chaumont sur Loire right at ten, or a little before. You may even be the first person in the castle for the day, which means you’ll wander the corridors mostly alone. Chaumont almost always has interior and exterior art exhibits of some kind, so the rooms hold not only historical treasures, but also the pleasant surprise of unique art installations!
Once you’ve finished wandering the castle, which can take thirty to forty-five minutes (be sure to check out the tapestries!)…
…explore the grounds, including the Kitchen Garden and Children’s Garden (see if you can find the Hippogriff eggs Harry Potter fans!)
Then, stop at the cafe right past the entrance to the grounds of the International Garden Festival to refresh your spirits with a coffee or an ice cream before you begin your exploration of the kaleidoscope of gardens. Held every summer from late April to the beginning of November, this exhibit in the ten hectare park (to your left as you enter the castle grounds) has a new theme for its gardens each year. Wandering the gardens can easily take you two and a half to three hours, but it is so very worth seeing each unique creation! End your exploration with a sandwich and a little bottle of wine in the shade before you leave for your next destination.
2:00pm- Depending on how long you took to explore Chateau Chaumont, it will be somewhere between one and two o’clock in the afternoon. Your second stop for the day is about thirty minutes away at Chateau Chenonceau. The pleasant thing about arriving to Chenonceau mid-afternoon is that you miss some of the morning crush. However, this chateau will certainly be more crowded than Chaumont, but it is still well worth seeing! Sometimes referred to as the women’s castle, it has been largely owned, designed and inhabited by women. In a dramatic twist, Chenonceau, originally given to Diane de Poitiers, mistress to Henry II, was actually the favorite castle of Henry’s wife Catherine De Medici, who instead owned Chaumont! When Henry died, Catherine immediately “traded” Chaumont for Chenonceau and continued to renovate the castle. The grounds of Chenonceau are expansive, but the castle itself is fairly small, and seems almost delicate, with it’s bridge of halls over the river. Take your time to wander up and in to the castle, enjoy the rose filled gardens of Diane de Poitiers (to the left of the chateau) and Catherine de Medici (to the right), as well as the maze designed by Catherine, off to the left of the tree lined drive up to the courtyard. In the castle itself, the kitchens are particularly interesting, filled with the multitude of implements needed there. As you leave, take the time to enjoy the vast flower gardens which supply the various floral arrangements that adorn the castle. Chenonceau can take anywhere from two to three hours to explore, so you may be leaving right before it closes, between six and seven pm in the summer.
6:00pm- Enjoy a leisurely drive back to your Airbnb, which should take about an hour, and put your feet up for a bit before dinner. Palais Des L’is is a remarkable surprise in this tiny village. A five star restaurant literally a two minute walk from your Airbnb. Make sure you are truly hungry and feast!
A couple tips…
You will walk a lot, so wear good shoes.
Bring a water bottle and fill it as often as you can.
Take pictures, but also be sure just to drink it in without a screen.
