Loire Valley Apr 07
I visited the Loire Valley with my Grandmother during Easter. We visited Tours and the Chateaux of Azay-le-Rideau, Chenonceau, Amboise, Chambord, Cheverny, Blois and Villandry. We were very lucky with the weather enjoying bright sunshine and warm temperatures- April is not yet the high touristic season which meant, to my delight, it was quieter than it would be in the summer, however, it also meant the trees and flowers had not yet blossomed reducing the charms of the region (and meaning many of my pictures did not look great as winter trees did not suit the setting)
Being tourist-phobic my favourites "chateaux" were by far Cheverny and Villandry (Cheverny receives 350,000 to 400,000 visitors a year compared to the 3 to 4 millions Chambord receives).
Owned by a private family, the Chateau and domain de Cheverny are the epitome of refinement. Herge, the creator of “Tintin”, must have been seduced by its charms too- he used Cheverny as inspiration for Captain Haddock’s Chateau de Moulinsart.
Villandry, meanwhile, is famous for its gardens which are renowned internationally. Symmetrical French gardens, unlike the charming but unruly British gardens, are a reflection of the “Siecle des Lumieres”’ belief that nature could be “ruled” by man- in the enlightenment thinkers’ view nature was imperfect, sending the plague, floods, droughts etc to the world and it was man’s mission to improve it through science and technology- the gardens of Villandry, Versailles or the Jardin des Tuileries, with their cone shaped trees, symmetrical alleys, geometrical labyrinth etc. are the product of the belief that science and mathematics could transform nature for the better.