These are all photos of the château de Chenonceau that I took in July 2004. It was on a sunny, windless morning. I don't have much to say about them, but here they are. You can see why so many people want to see Chenonceau, which by car is not quite 20 miles (30 kilometers) downriver from Saint-Aignan.
Speaking of sunny, windless days, that's not the kind of weather we've been having recently. It's been pretty rainy and windy since the end of last week. I put the rain gauge back out and we've gotten about three inches, 75 millimeters of rain in less than a week. We need the rain, but the contrast with the dry, hot summer we just lived through could make your head spin.
Looking at the last photo, I'm wondering if the grand gallery was meant to end abruptly as it does, and if some structure more or less
ReplyDeletesymetrical to the other end was meant to be but never concretised?
I'm sure Diogenes will like the third photo as much as I do.
Here is what I found on French Wikipedia, translated by deepl : chrnonceau anglais
DeleteChenonceau
But for some unknown reason, the enlargements on the left bank of the Cher are interrupted. Waiting stones, still visible today, will not receive the planned pavilion. The Chenonceau construction site then continued on the right bank, with the elevation of the Dômes building and the Chancellery from 1580 to 1585. The reception of the constructions takes place on August 23rd 1586 and Catherine de Medici's ambitious project ends that day.
Yes I love the picture with all the wonderful reflections too. It does seem that a building is missing on the opposite river bank...we'd expect a guard tower or something. Maybe the budget ran out? Or the owner's favor with the king decreased.
DeleteWhat I read in the French Wikipédia article says that the queen Catherine de Médicis just ran out of money. She spent her entire personal fortune on expansions at Chenonceau but it was insufficient. Then she borrowed more money at very high interest rates. She planned to have a pavilion built on the left (south) bank of the Cher, but in 1584 a plague broke out and several of Catherine's ladies in waiting got sick and died. Catherine herself died at the château in Blois in 1589, just a few months short of her 70th birthday.
DeleteThat's interesting Ken, thanks! So they did plan to build more! I'm sure building in carved stone was not cheap.
DeleteOh, these are nice :)
ReplyDeleteChenonceau needs no words, your photos are beautiful!
ReplyDelete