France: Along Loire to Château de Chambord and Orléans
We woke up in the Loire Valley, just next to the river and after the morning walk and breakfast we moved on to our first stop of the day, Château de Chambord. Since Bronco wasn't allowed to visit it, Nada and me made a separate visit to the interior of the château. The building is quite a big thing, so it is hard to see everything. Our 2nd stop of the day was Orléans and Orléans Cathedral and then we finished it with a wild camping on the outskirts of the Sens city.
Previous days of our road trip to Bayern - Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Netherlands, Belgium, Hauts-de-France, Normandie - Normandy, Bretagne - Brittany, Pays de la Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est and Rhineland-Palatinate: Day 13 - 16057, Day 12 - 16056, Day 11 - 16055, Day 10 - 16054, Day 9 - 16053, Day 8 - 16052, Day 7 - 16051, Day 6 - 16050, Day 5 - 16049, Day 4 - 16048, Day 3 - 16047, Day 2 - 16046, Day 1 - 16045.
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| Morning on the left bank of Loire river. |
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| With Bronco we made a morning walk. |
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| Our campsite. |
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| Preparing the breakfast. |
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| Houses in front of the château. |
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| While I was checking the interior, Nada and Bronco explored the area around the château. |
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| The château is set within a vast forested park and game reserve that covers approximately 13000 acres (5300 hectares). |
While Bronco tried to climb the ladder, I was looking for the way to visit the top of the château.
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| The Château de Chambord, Centre-Val de Loire, France, is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinctive French Renaissance architecture, which blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Renaissance structures. |
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| The building was constructed by the king of France, Francis I. |
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| Chambord is the largest château in the Loire Valley. It was built to serve as a hunting lodge for Francis I. |
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| Bronco on his hunting mission. |
There are 282 fireplaces throughout the château.
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| The château features 365 windows, symbolizing one for each day of the year. |
84 staircases can lead you to over 440 rooms.
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| Some rooms in the château are dedicated to exhibitions, including a museum focused on the history of hunting, which was a favorite pastime of King Francis I and subsequent residents. |
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| One of the architectural highlights is the spectacular open double-spiral staircase that is the centrepiece of the château. |
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| View from the roof. |
French Renaissance architecture is a style which was prominent between the late 15th and early 17th centuries in the Kingdom of France. It succeeded French Gothic architecture. The style was originally imported from Italy after the Hundred Years' War by the French kings Charles VII, Louis XI, Charles VIII, Louis XII and François I.
French Renaissance architecture had two distinct periods. During the first period, between about 1491 and 1540, the Italian style was copied directly, often by Italian architects and craftsmen. In the second period, between 1540 and the end of the Valois dynasty in 1589, French architects and craftsmen gave the style a more distinctive and original French character.
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| This exciting new addition to the castle grounds was based on original drawings and years of architectural and archeological research. The gardens occupy six and a half hectares on the north side of the castle, and there are more than 600 trees, 800 shrubs, 200 rosebushes and 15250 plants along the border. This is the largest garden project of its kind within the last 20 years, and this makes Chambord Castle an essential feature of any French gardens tour. |
Bronco was tired, mostly because of the heat, so our tour was coming to an end.
Family photo.
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| We ended the Chambord tour with a few kilometers - Garmin Connect. |
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| Our next stop was Orléans. Place du Martroi is the main square in downtown Orléans. |
We visited Basilique Cathédrale Sainte-Croix d'Orléans - Orléans Cathedral.
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| During the Siege of Orléans, the cathedral was visited frequently by Joan of Arc. |
The cathedral was originally built from 1278 to 1329. It was partially destroyed in 1568 by the Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion, but was rebuilt between 1601 and 1829. The edifice is in the Gothic architectural style.
The western facade of the cathedral is adorned with intricate stone carvings, statues, and two prominent towers that rise to a height of about 88 meters.
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| Orléans was known in antiquity as Cenabum (or Genabum). Cenabum was a significant Gallic city belonging to the Carnutes tribe. |
Tuši, Bronco and This enormous equestrian statue of Jeanne d'Arc by Denis Foyatier (1855) in the Place du Martroi.
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| That's us in Orléans. |
Leaving civitas Aurelianorum, which was the name of the city in the late 3rd century AD, when Roman Emperor Aurelian rebuilt the city and renamed it civitas Aurelianorum ("city of Aurelian") after himself. The name later evolved into Orléans.
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| Our new campsite and chef at work. |
Wild camping experience in France was awesome.
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| Day 14, 309 km: From Les Roberts to Sens. |
Geocaches found (all received a visit by trackable items "MissJenn’s 5 Cents", TB9K7R9, "Sukerbiet 1", TB9VDJJ, "Schwarzer Delfin mit Anker", TB9YMGV and "Geo virus", TB45ZBF):
- Le château de Chambord 🏰 🦌, Virtual, GC891KE
- Canal de Chambord: La Pause Zen, GC8EJYE
- Chambord: l'observatoire du Bois du Bouchais, GC6BC0G
- Chambord: la Croix du Rond Prince Louis, GC6BDM7
- Fontaine Caroline, GC5D62F
- #01 - Promenade à Crouy, GCA23BT
- Orléans - Cathédrale Sainte-Croix, GC9VPWP
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