Loire Valley castles in France are full of amazing stories. It is easy to overdose on castles, so do not try and make any records by doing them all in one or two days.
The region around Blois is a perfect base for visiting Chambord, Cheverney, Blois, Clos Luce, Amboise, Azay-le-Rideau, Villandry, Chaumont, and our favourite Chateau Chenonceau which attracts over one million visitors each year, the most out of all of the Loire Valley castles.
At Chateau Chenonceau you can hear ‘The future king was 12 and he took a mistress aged 32.’ The image of the castles of this area may be all towers, topiary, tapestries and faded furniture but for 200 years, these great palaces were host to world-class debauchery and countless murders.
In Chateau Blois, Henri III invited a rival to his ornate bed chamber then hid behind a curtain as twenty hired men jumped the wretch.
The chateau guide can show you the exact spot in Chateau Blois where 23 knife stabs were planted in the unfortunate Duke de Guise the head of the Catholic League, by 8 men armed with daggers and 12 with swords. You can even watch a black and white 12 minute silent movie re-enacting the murder at Chateau Blois.
Today tourists at Chateau Blois can see the 237 secret cabinets, which opened by stepping on a hidden lever, where Catherine de Medici kept her personal papers, jewels and a collection of poisons. Catherine and her son Henri III ordered the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, which began in Paris and spread throughout France, resulting in the death of some seventy thousand Protestants.
In Chinon, aristocratic ladies bunged unplanned babies down an eighty ft shaft, also the castle toilet. And it was from his balcony at Chateau Amboise that Louis XII hung Protestant dissidents.
Chateau Chenonceau has one of the most colourful pasts. Here not only did Henri II take a mistress 20 years his senior when he was 12, but Henri III also used the formal gardens for transvestite parties with his chums, ‘the Sweeties’.
Today because of cheap airfares to many exotic locations and perhaps because the curators of these celebrated castles typically ignore the colourful elements in their history these castles are chasing the tourist dollar.
You do not just have to only visit the historic chateaux. You can stay in one as well. You can even hold a french destination wedding for that extra wow factor for your special day. Some chateaux even offer you a french wedding package and they are more affordable than you may think. A destination wedding package package includes use of a castle, chapel, horse and carriage, fabulous french food and wine for your wedding breakfst, photographer, flowers, decoration, music, wedding planning. All the bride and groom have to do is turn up in their wedding attire with rings to exchange.
