The chateau of Chenonceau

The castle at the Cher

Proudly stood over the river Cher, the castle of Chenonceau has seen many a master througout the centuries and lived through several wars before it became a historic monument in the safe keep of the current owners. Gorgeous as it is, Chenonceau ought to feature on anyone’s list for a holiday in France.

Although famous as the Ladies’ Castle, after its many mistresses, the foundations of the Renaissance palace were laid a lot earlier during the 13th century. At the time it didn’t yet sit in the Cher’s river bed, but on its bank. Ransacked during the Hundred Years’ War, Chenonceau fell into decline until it was saved by Thomas Bohier, chancelor to king Louis XII, who borrowed from the royal treasure to buy the castle on the bank of the Cher. Unfortunately Bohier died prematurely when only the main body of Chenoneau had been finalised. His wife and heir soon followed which left Chenonceau in the hands of their eldest son Antoine Bohier. Antoine quickly discovered that his family had a 190 000 pound debt to the king. The price of a small house today, but an enormous fortune at the time. Antoine saw no other way out than to hand over Chenonceau to the royal family.

King François I, although initially interested in the castle, soon didn’t really know what to do with it anymore and left it to decline. So Chenonceau, partly reconstructed but still empty and brand new, was abandonned and half forgotten. Until it got its first mistress : Diane the Poitiers and mistress of King Henri II.

Chenonceau in the hands of Diane de Poitiers

Diane de Poitiers was a very beautiful and youthful woman. Especially the latter was quite rare during the 16th century when people didn’t yet have all sorts of beauty products and creams at their disposal to conserve their skin. She was also a widow and known to be a calculating, rather cold woman. All this didn’t seem to bother the young king. Young indeed, because Diane was no less than twenty years Henri’s senior. The king had first met Diane de Poitiers as a child when leaving for Spain as a hostage to the Spanish king. At his return in 1530 he saw Diane again with whom he remained in touch even after his marriage to Catherine de Medici in 1533. Although this may seem a little strange, it is important to bear in mind that especially royal weddings were hardly affairs of the heart in the 16th century. Suitable partners were selected based on their political or financial value rather than love. The marriage of Henri II of France and Catherine the Medici was arranged for them and they were married at fourteen.

Nevertheless, the relationship between Henri II and Diane developed and became sexual even before Henri’s accession to the throne. After king François I, Henri’s father’s death, Diane’s heyday stared. As the new king’s favourite she occupied an important position at court and acquired the castle of Chenonceau as gift only months after the death of the old king. She was also given the title of duchess of Valentois. Despite being mistress of Chenonceau, Diane was not its owner until 1555 when she had pressured the king long enough that he made the gift permanent.

When Diane first occupied Chenonceau it was empty and had a relatively small unkept garden. It was Diane who extended and planted the gardens. Part of the result of her efforts are still to be seen today in the Jardin the Diane. The fountain spraying water out of a rock and falling down onto a star-shaped stone, is original. This part of the Chenonceau gardens is planted anew twice a year so that visitors can admire the blooming flowers the entire season.

Apart from the gardens, Diane also extended the castle by having the bridge crossing the Cher built. This bridge and the gallerie above were to serve as a cross-over during World War II between occupied and free France. Today the bridge’s pillars house the extensive and impressive kitchens of the chateau.

Diane de Poitiers fully furnished the château as well, something its royal owner François I had never bothered to do. She slept in what is now called the Queen’s Chamber and had the enormous mantelpiece decoraed with her lover’s symbol: an H incorporating two C’s back to back. Although they can also be seen as two D’s back to back. Some examples of the ambigous symbol are still visible in Chenonceau however the one above the mantlepiece in the Queen’s bedroom was removed by Catherine the Medici when she became mistress of the fairytale castle.

Chenonceau as royal dwelling

Catherine de Medici had lived her live until her husband’s unexpected death in the shadow of Diane de Poitiers. As such she had hardly had any political power at all. Mother of ten young children and of the new king, she saw herself forced to start playing a political role as soon as she became a widow however. Soon after the king’s sudden death during a jousting festival in 1559, Catherine was made part of a plot but mostly had only one task ahead: secure the throne for her children.

As Queen of France, Catherine de Medici had lived in different palaces in and around Paris, but she had always wanted the chateau of Chenonceau, her husband’s favorite’s home. Once her husband king Henri had died, Catherine finally had the chance to banish her rival with whom she had been forced to share her marriage from court. Diane’s position had altered radically after her lover’s death: from favourite and privileged to rather precarious. If the Queen had wanted it, she could easily have had Diane executed. Catherine however had no desire to bring her husband’s lover to trial. She did however reclaim jewellery being offered to Diane as a gift but belonging to the treasure and the castle of Chenonceau. In exchange, Catherine offered Diane the more valuable castle of Chaumont. Diane was in no position to refuse and so Chenonceau became royal property once more.  

Understandably, Catherine didn’t want anything in her new home to remind her of the former occupant. From an early age, she had been interested in architecture and as Queen of France she had been in charge of the reconstruction of the chateau of Tournelles. In that context it won’t come as a surprise that Catherine left her own mark to the unique palace. Overseeing the construction of among other things the galery on top of the Pont de Diane, was Maria-Catharina Gondi, an old friend of the Queen and one of the rare women at the time to occupy the prestigious post of chancellor to the treasure and administration. The new galery that was constructed on top of the bridge over the Cher was two stories high. The work was finalised in 1577 and inaugurated that same year with a huge banquet in king Henri III’s honour.

Apart from the extensions to the palace, Catherine also had the gardens extended. Waterfalls were created and cages for exotic animals and rare birds. Catherine also planted mulberrytrees to accommodated silkworms. During her reign, Chenonceau flourished and became the background to which lavish parties were thrown, such as for the marriage of François II and Mary Queen of Scots in 1560. If Catherine indeed sought to erase Diane’s memory from Chenonceau, she achieved her goal. When visiting the magnificent palace, the hand of the Queen-Regent can be recognised both in and outside.

Decline and restauration of Chenonceau

At the moment of her death in 1589, Catherine de Medici left Chenonceau to her daughter-in-law Louise of Lorraine, wife of king Henri III. The latter died only months after his mother though, leaving behind a grieving. Queen Louise’s chamber at Chenonceau still bears witness to its occupant’s dispair. The room is furbished with black draperies embroidered with silver tears and crowns of thorns.

After decades of festivities and extravagant parties, a shadow fell upon Chenonceau. Although Henri and Louise’s heirs tried to maintain the enormous palace and extensive gardens, it all soon fell into decay. The Valois dynasty had ended with Henry III who died without a male heir. As a result pretenders to the throne from the Bourbon and the Guise families fought it out between them. The conflict was settled in the favour of the Bourbons, who were not very interested in the chateau of Chenonceau.

Spared during the French Revolution of 1789, the palace remained empty until the 1950s when it was finally bought by the Menier family who restored it to its former glory.

The chateau of Dree

Chateau le Dree, Burgundy

The chateau de Drée is a French castle in the region of Burgundy, France, near the village of Curbigny. Although it is not your traditional castle with towers and drawbridges, it is well worth a visit when you're staying in the county. After years of decay during the last century, it is now restored to its former glory, and what glory it is.

A bit of history

Although finalised in 1620, the Dree castle saw its heyday during the 18th century when the count of Drée, Etienne prince of Lorraine, had it completely redecorated in the style of the royal castle Versailles. Almost 100 years later in 1837 , the castle came to countess Augustine de Tournon-Simiane who not only built the central entrance but also left her memory to the chateau. In many details you will still recognise her lecacy. The countess heirs let the building fall into decay however until 1995 when its current owner Mr Prouvost bought the castle. He undertook the enormous project of restoring the building, of redecorating it in 18th century style and of constructing the now gorgeous gardens. 

Visiting the chateau de Drée

A visit of the castle starts in the courtyard, opposite the main entrance. Through the glass doors you can already take a peek of the central galery. If you have to wait a little while before the tour starts, take the opportunity to walk through the front gardens with the beautiful flowerbeds and to take a picture in front of the castle as if you own the place. Closely observe the castle windows, you may notice something odd.

The tour then takes you into the interesting and fully decorated kitchens. Take your time to really look around to take in all the details as much as possible. Luckily the guide points out the most important features and provide more information about those as well as to make the kitchen come alive. It is easy to imagine how entire boars were grilled in the large fireplace, but also how people managed without modern facilities such as a fridge.

Several cooks and maids worked in the kitchens with the chef living in a little room above. Lead upstairs, you enter the chef cook's room with a bed and washstand. A little window allowed him to look down into the kitchens and see how work was progressing. 

Through one of the long corridors decorated with antlers and pictures and dining room with its completely set table, you finally enter the galery with the enormous marble table in the middle. From there it is look out over the front lane as well as the park and rose gardens at the back.

From the galery you make your way into the drawing rooms. The chateau the Dree currently has two drawing rooms both reflections of the age the king they're named after lived in: the Louis XV Louis XIV. Notice the difference between the square shapes and cooler colours of the Louis XV room and the rounder shapes and warmer colours of the Louis XVI. Despite the adequate imitation of the styles of the ages of Louis XV and Louis XVI, it remains a guess whether the drawing rooms at Dree have actually looked like they do today. Having been completely destroyed, all the wall upholsterings had disappeared and those we can admire today are in fact imitations.

As opposed to the drawing rooms downstairs however, the upstairs rooms still have their original colours and wall papers. The furniture however has been added during the restauration. Nevertheless you are able to see what the bedrooms of various members of the noble family living at Dree must have looked like. Apart from the lord and lady of the house's bedrooms, there are some interesting details to mention. Note how the lord's bedroom has a door to the bedrooms to either side. In one instance that is understandable - the room of his wife was nextdoor but he was thus also able to enter the bedroom on the other side where any (female) guest could be staying.

Besides the bedrooms, the first floor also houses perhaps the most popular areas of the house. Of course the kitchen is very interesting, but you will enjoy the nursury with its little cod and the 19th century bathroom on an entirely different level. After having been taken to the house chapel, the tour continues outside. In adjacent buildings you find the stables and an early exterior sort of freezer where the temperature could be kept very low indeed for ice.


After the tour of the castle, take some time to visit the extensive gardens of the chateau de Drée. 

In the first part you'll find meticiously shaped hedges, the main fountain with benches around it and large parts of grass. 

Further from the castle building the garden transforms itself more into a park with trees. However long you'd like to spend walking around, do not miss the wonderful rose garden to the side of the chateau. Especially during the summer, when all the roses are in bloom, they are a sight for sore eyes!