Discovering Chateaux

The hotel was comfortable, the breakfast predictable, the morning bright and beautiful,( after all this is France), and the open road beckoning. Noticeably at this early stage the Kilometers flashed by with amazing speed and soon we were travelling along the Loire towards Langeais.
Only when you approach the little town nestled on the north bank of the Loire and you catch the first sighting of the Chateau do you realize what an imposing fortress it is, towering above the town in all its Gothic splendour. Being on the border between Touraine and Anjou its possession was hotly disputed between the Counts of those regions, and being rebuilt in the thirteenth century, the chateau served as a hide-out for English captains during the Hundred Years War. As a result of which it was completely destroyed.
We were to discover that wherever we travelled in France the French would mention the Hundred Years War at every opportunity, albeit with a little Gallic shrug, and to which we responded with a little Anglo Saxon smile.
On instruction by Louis XI the citadel was rebuilt by Jean Bourre, and the one significant event of historic importance, the marriage of Anne of Brittany to Charles VIII , took place on the 16th December 1491.
In contrast to the formidable outer appearance, the bareness of the walls inside was concealed by glittering tapestries, and the huge and expansive fireplaces seemed to be a feature of every room.
Crossing the river and travelling along the south bank towards Tours we soon came to the magnificent chateau of Villandry, which is actually on the banks of the river Cher, but still quite close to the Loire.
Villandry, in contrast to the chateau at Langeais, is a good example of a beautiful Rennaisance building, with its symmetrical facades, and superb parterre gardens. Having experienced one tour of a chateau and listened to the French guide wax eloquently about the furnishings and tapestries, and many other features of the building, it was, for me, a delightful contrast to be able to wander in the warm September sunshine around the magnificent ornamental and kitchen gardens, together with the herb gardens and terraces, and marvel at the fact that in the eighteenth century all this had been landscaped, and walled up only to be restored by a subsequent owner, Dr Carvallo.
Time, however, was overtaking us, and we needed to move swiftly on if we were to reach the Dordogne at our estimated time. I had deliberately chosen a route to avoid major roads and Autoroutes and so we set off on the road for Richelieu and Chatellerault, but making one more visit, this time to the chateau at Azay-le.-Rideau.
The chateau of Azay-le-Rideau is set like like a jewel by the river, on pile foundations, and the two main buildings were finished in 1524. It is considered to be traditional in style and shows the essential features of flamboyant Gothic, rising as it does on a bend of the Indre, and seemingly floating in the landscape. But still more magnificent tapestries and a grand staircase left us feeling that it was time to attend to the rather more pressing task of continuing our journey without delay, still being optimistic that our route, carefully mapped out by me, was by far the most direct and easiest way to our ultimate destination in the top right hand corner of the Dordogne. Another mistake, but more of that later.