Loire Valley Castles: Cheverny, Chissay & le Clos Lucé – Road Trip in France #25
After the Marais Poitevin, we are supposed to attend the show la Cinéscénie du Puy du Fou but because of Covid, our tickets were unfortunately cancelled, the park only honors reservations made by customers staying in one of their hotels. So, instead of spending a few days in Nantes, we came back to Pays de la Loire, to JB’s parents’ home.
Note: this blog article is part of the “Road Trip in France” made in August 2020. To read the previous parts, click here : #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 and #24
Part 1: Travel Diary
Part 2: Practical Tips
Part 1: Travel Diary
Cheverny Castle
There are many castles in the area and we have already visited the most famous ones. The difficulty is to choose other known castles to visit, they are too numerous and too beautiful. After much hesitation, we visit the Cheverny castle, belonging to the same family for more than six centuries.
This is the model that Hergé used as an inspiration for the castle of Moulinsart in Tintin. Moulinsart is a replica of the castle of Cheverny from which one would have removed the two imposing side pavilions. And there is no explanation for the choice of this castle as a model. Perhaps because it is the first castle to have been opened to the public in 1922? So more known?
Tickets can be bought on the spot without any problem. For the toilets, the ones next to the reception are out of order, but the ones inside the castle (so you need an entrance ticket) are open. I say this because some people complain on Google Maps that they had to go to the public toilets of the town hall just opposite.
Unfortunately, I don’t feel well so we visited the castle very quickly. I let you see the pictures of the interior: very busy but very furnished too. It still feels good to visit a furnished castle. There are pictures of the family a little bit everywhere, it’s weird because it’s clear that they don’t live there anymore, but putting pictures here and there to make it look like “it’s the French way of life” ? There are some very bad taste Lego constructions. Anyway, I’m perplexed.
We move on to another part of the castle where some scenes in Tintin are re-created. This isn’t very well done either. Because the plan of the building doesn’t correspond to the comics, so we go from one room to another, from one comic to another, without necessarily feeling impregnated in the comics. JB had a good memory of this visit about twenty years ago when he was a child. It seems that the tintin exhibition hasn’t moved since, it hasn’t aged well
We finish by the kennels, where about a hundred hunting dogs are kept. There is a sign indicating that they are well fed and treated etc. but when you see the huge garden and the laughing size of the kennels, you wonder why they don’t just let them loose in the garden and if the owners have a heart. Besides, hunting for hounds what! So has-been. I am disgusted to have given them 17€ to continue their barbaric practice.
We try to go to the center of Amboise but it is impossible for us to find a parking space. We find with relief a restaurant on the way with a big parking: La Bonne étape. The kitchen is simple, but it is really good.
Castle of Chissay
I still don’t feel well (painful period, it’s not the Covid lol) and we hurry to go to the castle where we will sleep tonight: the Château de Chissay.
The room isn’t immediately available but you can enjoy the gardens, the swimming pool and the cave caves.
Here, Wifi is almost non-existent. You have to be near the reception desk to get a bit of Internet. It’s surprising, but then again, the walls must be too thick for the network to get through. Our room is very small but well equipped, with private bathroom and even a small corridor with two period chairs to chill. Honestly, it is less luxurious than our guest room in Nontron.
It’s funny to think that we sleep in a castle.
In the evening, we have dinner at the hotel restaurant. They wanted to play on a “gastronomic” card but unfortunately, the whole isn’t fine enough, there is always something wrong: too acidic, or not seasoned enough. It’s often too acidic, even for dishes that don’t need acidity at all.
Le Clos Lucé
The next day, we visit the Clos Lucé. We could have bought the tickets on line but there isn’t much waiting so we went without a ticket. There are guided tours but we opt for a normal visit with a paper guide which is provided to us. I prefer the Clos Lucée in Cheverny, I find the interior more cordial than Cheverny. It is here that Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years.
The hightlight of the visit is his workshop, bathed in light. We also see hisn’tebooks, his tools… it is very well done, it looks like the artist has just left his studio.
On the floor below, there are about twenty inventions designed by Leonardo da Vinci and re-created by IBM. Because of the Covid, the route is signposted and it takes a long time to visit the basement. It particularly annoys us because we have already seen all these models in Milan.
We hurry to leave the basement without oxygen to recharge our batteries in the garden. They put some smoke and everything is cute 🙂 This is to remind us of sfumato, the pictorial technique that gives the subject imprecise contours by means of Leonardo da Vinci’s smooth and transparent textured glazes.
In the garden, there are also some life-size inventions. Some of them really work, others are in “demo” mode only.
Well, it’s not the best travel diary of my life, but it’s all I’m able to remember when I’m not feeling good 😀
We go to JB’s mom’s house, where we spend 4 nights. Unfortunately she is on vacation. This is the opportunity for us to see JB’s dad & our friends again. We already have to go back to work, but we still have 2 more days to visit (time to drive back to Rouen to return the car) before going to Rome.
Our next article, it’s this way
Part 2: Practical Tips
Useful links
- 4 weeks Road Trip in France by car: program & detailed plans here
- These points of interest are part of the +800 tourist places in France that we recommend. To access free Google Maps of the 800 places in question, click here
- More info about our car rental at Leclerc (5€/day + 8cts per km) here
Budget
- Visits :
- Château de Cheverny : Visit of the castle and gardens + The secrets of Moulinsart 17€
- Le Clos Lucé : visit of the castle & gardens : 17€
- Restaurant La Bonne Etape in Amboise : count 25€/person
- Château de Chissay : 130€ per double room (link Booking)
- Castle’s restaurant : count 50€/person
