Three châteaux most will never see

Just west of Blois, between Amboise on the left bank of the Loire and Vouvray on the right bank, there are at least three châteaux that are not at all well known. I remember finding them almost by accident years ago.

The château above is in the village called Pocé-sur-Cisse just a short drive north of Amboise. We stayed in a gîte in Pocé in December 2002 when we were looking at houses with an eye to buying one. The Cisse is a small river that flows parallel to the Loire from north of Blois on west to Vouvray. We thought we might find a house we liked and could afford in Amboise or nearby. The château in Pocé eluded us on that trip, I believe. We sound it a few years later. At some point in its history, in the 18th or 19th century, the Château de Pocé-sur-Cisse was abandoned. The building was turned into a foundry by a local industrialist. When the château later reverted to government ownership, iron and steel statues of winged lions fabricated in the foundry were placed around the property as decorations.

A short distance west and north of Pocé the Brenne river flows north to south on th eastern edge of the wine village called Vouvray. Two châteaux stand in the Brenne river valley. Both were built starting at the end of the 15th century, but in different styles. One, the Château de de la Côte (above left) is just barely a château; it's smaller so is sometimes described as a manor (un manoir in French). It looks pretty elegant and is privately owned. The other, the Château de Jallanges was built mostly of brick. These days it is operated as a hotel catering to tourists who want to see the better-known Loire Valley châteaux nearby.

Losses

I lost a member of my extended family a few days ago. I just found out about it this morning. We weren't blood relatives, but we were definitely related. His name — the one he went by — was Lewis. I met him through his wife and over the internet. You know his wife too, if you've read this blog much. She's Evelyn, and she's a frequent commenter. Evelyn and Lewis and Walt and I took trips to several different parts of France over the years. My love to Evelyn and her two children. I'm tearing up, so I'll stop here...

  

In the vicinity of Saint-Nicolas de Blois

Winds are howling and rain is blowing every which-a-way in Saint-Aignan this morning. Forecasters are saying the storm will move through slowly and last into the afternoon. There are thunderstorm warnings and we may well get some hail before it's all over. It's downright chilly outside right now, and the high temperature this afternoon will be 21C, reports say. That's not quite 70F.

Meanwhile, our neighbors who live in Blois are throwing a big party tomorrow. They are expecting about 100 guests — including us. If they are awake at this hour, they are probably getting nervous about today's weather. Actually, it's supposed to be much better tomorrow, with sun and warmer temperatures. What are they celebrating? It's their mother's a 90th birthday. "They" are her seven children and her many grandchildren, other relatives, and friends. BTW, it's supposed to be an outdoor party. A hundred guests wouldn't fit in their small maison de campagne.

Meanwhile, here are a few Blois photos that I took years ago. The café you see above right is directly across the street from the main entrance into the Église Saint-Nicolas, above left.

Stained glass at the Saint-Nicolas church in Blois

All the stained-glass windows in the Église Saint-Nicolas de Blois were destroyed when the city was bombarded in June 1940. Somehow the church itself was left otherwise undamaged, I think. The windows you see in the church today were installed in the 1950s. Some or all of them were the work of the famous stained-glass artist Max Ingrand.

Blois on a March morning

It started out foggy on that March day in 2006. Above left you see the Église Saint-Nicolas. Above right is the old bridge. There are two other bridges at Blois — modern ones — one upstream and one downstream. The main part of the town is on the right bank of the Loire, and the smaller part is on the left bank.

Toward mid-morning, the fog started to lift. Above left, there's the old bridge again, with the cathrdral on high ground on the right bank. Above right, you can see that there are some very steep streets in the old town.

Above left is the outer façade of the François 1er wing of the Château de Blois, which sort of overlooks the center of the town. It's called La Façade des Loges in French. I don't know much more about it. The picture above right shows, from on high, a street that parallels the Loire river. You can see how the houses and other buildings are packed together along the road.

Views of Blois from the château

This panoramic photo of Blois is one I took from the left bank of the Loire, almost directly across from the château. The big white building on the far left is the château's Classical wing. The three tall spires you see just right of the château are those of the Église Saint-Nicolas, built in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Cadogan guide describes them as soaring, sharp, and "puncturing the Blois skyline. The church on the right side of the photo is the Renaissance-era Cathédrale Saint-Louis, built in the 16th century. It was nearly destroyed by what the Michelin Guide Vert describes as un ouragan (a hurricane) in 1678 and was re-built.

Views of Saint-Nicolas from the terrace of the Château de Blois.

Looking down on a couple of old houses in the Saint-Nicolas neighborhood

L'Église Saint-Nicolas de Blois.

Photos in and around the Château de Blois

I took these photos in Blois in June 2009. CHM was visiting from Paris. We made an afternoon of it. I'm not sure where we saw the stained-glass window on the right. It might have been inside the Chapelle Saint-Calais at the Château de Blois. Or it might have been in the nearby Église Saint-Nicolas.

I do know, however, that the painting below is one of CHM's grandfather's works. His name was also CHM — Charles-Henri Michel. He was born in 1817 and died in 1905. The man I worked with and got to be friends with spelled his name Charles-Henry. He was born in 1924, and he and I were friends for many decades, until his death in 2024.

I don't think I ever asked Charles-Henry why he changed the spelling of his name. He probably would have told me that it was none of my business. This painting by his grandfather was finished in 1901.

Above and below are some pictures I took inside the François 1er wing of the château and one of a nearby church, St-Vincent-de-Paul (17th century).

The royal château complex at Blois

The Château de Blois is a complex made up of buildings of at least three architectural styles. The two shots above show the Louis XII wing of the château. It was built starting in 1499, at a time when italianate buildings of Renaissance style were becoming fashionable, but the Louis XII wing is basically a late Gothic structure.

On the right is the courtyard façade of the François 1er wing, on which construction started just a few years later in the early 16th century. The façade itself is italianate in style, but the protruding stair tower, which is also very ornate, is a standard feature of French Gothic architecture. The people bottom-left in the photo might give you an idea of the scale of the building.

The third wing of the château is a Classical-style building. It was built later than the two other wings, in the first half of the 17th century, and to my eye is a little stodgy instead of whimsical and sort of excentric.

King Louis XII chose the porcupine as his royal symbol. And on the right just above is another shot of king François 1er's salamander.

Time off...

...for good behavior, I hope. Anyway, I'mm having a busy morning. And my joints are aching. And Blogger isn't cooperating. So, until tomorrow. Ken

Heading home

Home is the Loir-et-Cher département, and it's biggest town is Blois. That's just 25 miles north of Saint-Aignan. The drive from Bellegarde to Blois takes about an hour. Blois, an old royal town, has one of the major Loire Valley châteaux. Here are some pictures I took on a visit to the Château de Blois in 2009 with CHM. Each is a wider view next to a closer view...

The man who took the name Louis XII was born in the château at Blois in 1462 and reigned over France from 1498 until 1515. He was known as le père du peuple. He had his own brick wing of the old château built starting in 1499 in, basically, gothic style.

King François Ier reigned from Blois from 1515 to 1547, the period known as the French Renaissance. He in turn had his own wing added to the château at Blois, with the spiral stone staircase you see in the two photos just above.

François Ier's royal symbol was the salamander, an animal that was believed to have magical powers and be able to live through fires and other catastrophes.