Château de Chambord
In September 2020 my husband cycled 400 km from Orléans to the sea in a charity bike ride. I drove a car with our kids along behind him for support and with supplies, and this meant that while he sweated profusely cycling through the last major heatwave of the summer, the kids and I sweated profusely and walked a fair amount of steps ourselves around the grounds and interiors of the famous châteaux of the Loire Valley and ate our way through boulangeries as we went.
Our first stop is the impressive and magnificent Château de Chambord. As ever, when you approach such structures, you can’t help but ooh and aah as you walk closer and closer. We walk around and enter through the back into a vast, open courtyard covered in pea-size gravel that crunches under our feet until we reach a gorgeous stone staircase. The spiral design and the light reflecting off the limestone makes the monumental structure feel surprisingly light and airy.
Construction began on the château in the early 1500s at the order of King François I who chose the salamander as his symbol, and we see this slithering amphibian represented all throughout the castle. My favorite features are the gorgeous windows that let in so much light, and I’m looking forward to seeing the “double helix” staircase inspired by the designs of Leonardo da Vinci. It’s not until this trip that I learn he spent the last years of his life in France at the request of François I who was so impressed with his designs. My 10-year-old really enjoys the “histopad” that allows you to look at the castle as it was during François’s day.
The “double helix” staircase in the center of the castle is definitely worth the hype. It’s gorgeous, and it’s fun to split up the members of your party and walk up and down opposite sides, intertwining but never meeting, until you reach the roof for a panoramic view of the gardens. But once again, my favorite part is the windows! You may also spy more salamanders.
There’s a very grand gift shop to pass through as we leave and return our histopad. I admire the china and buy a glass Christmas ornament with the castle on it as a remembrance. It’s so hot that the kids and I sit in the shade and eat ice cream until our intrepid cyclist arrives where we treat him to an ice-cold Powerade in the parking lot. I think we got the better end of the deal.
For more pictures, check out the photo gallery for the central Loire Valley.