Category Archives: France

Tuesday Textures – April 26, 2022

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…..more textures found in nature in Tours

Fuzzy and soft
Hard and flaky
Spiky….a deterrent to keep the public off the chairs in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Tours
A contrast of textures…soft and tender to hard and gnarly

Gargoyles in France

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…..they’re everywhere…..on and in churches and castles

Did you know that gargoyles are more than decorative motifs on the sides of buildings? Most serve a very practical function.

Gargoyles are designed to allow rainwater to run off from the roof, usually through the mouth of the creature, man or animal that it is fashioned after. They were the precursor to gutters and rain spouts.

Historians also say that gargoyles were designed to protect a location and the people therein from negativity and unwanted spirits.

From the Cathedral in Tours
From the Château Royal in Amboise
From the Château in Blois

Castles in France – Part 3

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….a visit to Blois to see Chateau Royal de Blois

The interesting part of this castle is that it has four wings from four different eras and in four different styles, arranged around the same courtyard.

From the Outside

On the right side is the original medieval château built by the Counts of Blois beginning in the 9th century

Inside the Courtyard

This is the Louis XII wing built the Flamboyant Gothic style between 1498 and 1508
The Francois 1 wing was built in 1515 to 1519 inspired by the Italian Renaissance
The Gaston of Orléans wing was constructed between 1635 and 1638. This wing was one of the first masterpieces of Classic French architecture

Inside the Château

Decorations over one of the two fireplaces in the King’s room
A throne with a fleur-de-lis canopy is where audiences were ranted by the king
The music room
The Queen’s Chamber dedicated to Queen Catherine de Medici, wife of King Henri II
The Oratory, a private space for prayer
The Estates General Room built in 1214 and used as a courtroom
One of many fireplaces found in almost every room
The vestibule of Gaston of Orléans giant construction project which was brought to a sudden stop

The wing remained an empty shell covered by an impressive oval dome…..the wing now houses temporary exhibition rooms

In the next post I will share the gardens and the views from the château.

The Gardens at the Amboise Château Royal

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….my favourite part of the château had to be the surrounding gardens

Part 2

The gardens were created at the end of the 15th century. King Charles VIII was so impressed with the gardens in Naples that he commissioned a Neapolitan priest, Dom Pacello da Mercogliano to recreate a pleasure garden and quiet space.

The Naples Terrace
View of the terrace from the château
The site of Leonardo da Vinci’s burial ground
In the past few years it has been replanted with boxwood, cypress trees, vines and grasses
Wisteria
The Lebanese Cedar provides a cool, shady spot to rest