Wednesday, 29 September. The bus left at 9:00 for our visit to three chateaux. We rode across the "donkey-back" Jacques Gabriel Bridge so we would have a view of Blois from the opposite bank. Then we crossed back at the next bridge and followed the Loire southwest. Our local guide pointed out that the Loire was the last "free" river in France, with no locks or dams. We left the Loire at Amboise where we could see in the distance the
Royal Chateau (15-16th century) where Leonardo da Vinci was the guest of Francis
I and where, in the adjacent Clos-Luc, he died in 1519. (Only about 20% of the
original chateau survived the French Revolution.)
Henry had given Chenonceau to Diane. She had an open bridge built from the chateau to the opposite bank of the Cher. After Henry's death (1559), Catherine forced Diane to give up the chateau. Catherine ruled France from Chenonceau while she was regent for her young son.. It was Catherine who had the long (170 feet) gallery built, enclosing Diane's bridge, thus extending the chateau all the way across the river. During World War II, when the Loire River was the boundary between German-occupied France and Free (Vichy) France, Chenonceau was regularly used as a passage between the two since it had doors on each bank of the river.
After going through all the rooms in the chateau, we had free time to explore the two lovely gardens. (The larger one had been Diane's; Catherine built her own garden nearby.)
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