Friday, September 30, 2011

Chenonceau Chateau - Day 5 of Cosmos Tour

Today we have the full day to visit 2 Chateau in the Loire Valley, the Chenonceau in the morning and the Amboise in the afternoon. We set out early after breakfast and we were the first group to reach Chenonceau Chateau thus beating the crowds.


After getting our tickets, we walked for about 10 minutes through a park before reaching the chateau. We saw some big rat-like creature along the way and there was even a sphinx.








The chateau from the front with close-ups of the tower.






The entrance to the castle proper is through an ornamental door. The first room is the guard's room where you can rent the audio guide to the chateau.












This leads to a small chapel,










where there are some modern stained-glass windows.










The tickets came with a very handy and informative booklet describing the various rooms in the chateau. The names of the various rooms and items therein mentioned with my photos are taken from this booklet since I never take notes in my travel.


Next is the Diane de Poitier's bedroom with a huge tapestry behind the four-poster bed.








There is also a very ornate fireplace.



Continuing on, we reached the Library with its intricate ceiling.

This is the gallery with view of the garden outside.





Next is the kitchen which is the dream of everyday housewives with all the cooking utensils that they can ask for. To me this is the most interesting part of the chateau.












We went through a couple more rooms with many paintings, portraits and decorative fireplace.






After several more bedrooms, I was having an overdose of royal beds.












It is a good thing that there are fresh flowers to liven up the scene.








In one of the halls, there is a painting of the chateau itself.

So much for the interior of the chateau; my next post will highlight the exterior, the gardens and the surrounding area.

Ronald Kwok

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