A Weekend in the Loire Valley

I had no idea where we were going until we turned off the highway towards Tours (Pierre spun all the way around one of those nausea-inducing highway roundabouts just for good measure, so I was left puzzling about our destination-- would it be St- Malo and Bretagne?-- as we first circled past the green signs for Tours. What a crafty ruse.) And then it hit me: we would spend a weekend in the Valley of Kings, the most opulent of French tourist destinations! Across the world, the symbol associated with la belle France is the grand, romantic chateaux rising from the vineyards around the mighty Loire River. The whole region, rich with architectural treasures, has been named an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

First stop: the Chateau of Langeais, where we sat outside the fortified ramparts, sipping cafe and munching on crossaints, my favorite pasttime. The chateau itself is not as lavish as Chambord, but is historically fascinating. It was here where Duchess Anne of Bretagne married Charles VIII in 1491, thus uniting the kingdoms. (Prior to that occasion, Brittany had been a wild, independent region, distinguished by its Celtic roots.) Inside the chateau, there's a funny wax figure exhibit explaining this important event.

The furniture is pretty cool. Stone walls are covered by Medieval tapestries; I now realize they served as much a practical purpose as an aesthetic one, keeping out the cold drafts in the winter. Over the beds, fabrics were suspended from the ceiling's thick, wooden beams. In front of the massive stone fireplace, a wooden bench could be transformed into a back warmer or foot warmer, depending on the guests' whims. (I wonder if they patented that invention.) Overall, the furnishings provide a fascinating picture of what royal life was like back in the 15th century.

Pictured: The Chateau of Langeais; the young betrothed royalty back in the 15th century; view from the upper rampart walk which wrapped around the castle (you can see the window slats where guards could hurl nasty objects at attackers-- buckets of hot oil, arrows, and the like); lunch in magical, medieval Tours.