Châteaux of the Loire

Seeing the castles of the Loire was one of the things I had been wanting to do since coming to Europe. It is one of the most famous collecitons of castles anywhere. The few days in the Loire were spent going to as many castles as could be seen in a day. There are a lot of castles there, a lot of castles were seen, a lot more were not seen. The surrounding scenery itself is not all the exciting, mostly level ground with corn fields, trees, and the occasional river. I think the real reason so many castles are located here is that it was a convenient place for hunting, and all the royalty wanted to be near eachother.

Here are some of the highlights
Amboise (where Leonardo da Vinci is buried), which was better from the outside (also because the town was nice)

From Châteaux of the Loire

Ussé, which was hard to take a picture of because of the layout of the grounds

From Châteaux of the Loire

Chinon, which was one of the most fortress-like, and so one of my favorites

From Châteaux of the Loire

Fontevraud Abbey (where Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitane, and Richard the Lionheart are buried)

From Châteaux of the Loire

Chenonçeau, built on a bridge across the river, and one of the must sees

From Châteaux of the Loire

Villandry, which itself is not that impressive, but has very elaborate gardens. Unfortunately, they are best view from above, which is difficult to do.

From Châteaux of the Loire

And finally, Chambord, which is also one of the must sees because of it's size

From Châteaux of the Loire

and because of its double helix staircase

From Châteaux of the Loire

While the Loire is famous for its castles, I think I was a victim of high expectations. The castles were good, and some were very good, but I found the landscape between them to be lacking. In my mind, the castles of the Rhine-Mosel are more engaging.

After all of that, there is a transit day in Burgundy on the way down to Grenoble where the French Alps Phase begins. No doubt there will be even more castles along the way.