Chenonceau on a damp March day

These are photos of Chenonceau that I took on a cold rainy day in March 2006. Friends were visiting from California, and they really wanted to see Chenonceau, despite the damp and drear. One of those friends passed away a few years later, so I'm glad we had made the effort. Chenonceau is less than 20 miles from our house.

Above is an artist's view of Chenonceau when the sun was brighter. It was hanging on a wall inside the château and I took a picture of it. And on the right is another photo of the place. The men at river level, in bright orange vests, were cleaning out the flotsam and jetsam that had collected under the arches that span the Cher river. We had had a lot of rain.

As you can see, there are really two châteaux at Chenonceaux. The one on the left — the big round tower — was built between 1515 and 1521 on top of the foundations of a mill that stood there earlier. A few decades later, a bridge spanning the river from the château (on the right above) over to the left bank of the Cher was built. Finally, a new wing was added to the château by building it on top of the bridge and all those arches.

Bonjour, Chenonceau

The town of Chenonceaux and the Château de Chenonceau are just a 30-minute drive north from Loches. On this September day when I was there with visiting Americans, we were treated to a little boat show on the Cher river not to mention clear skies.

Au revoir, Loches

I have a lot more pictures, but I'll be moving on from Loches after today. I'm not sure where I'll be going, but we'll see. There are a lot of places near Loches that merit a stop and a few photos.

Above, you see hôtel de ville in Loches, down in the lower town, and the logis royal, up in the cité médiévale

On the right is one of the French kings who lived in Loches. His name was Charles VIII, a.k.a. Charles l'Affable. He was born in 1470 in Amboise, and he died in 1498, just a few weeks before his 28th birthday. His death was accidental, as far as anyone knows. He was going to watch a sports event called jeu de paume (the ancestor of today's tennis) being played on the château grounds. In the excitement, along the way to the game he somehow banged his head on a low doorway (even though he was only 1m52 tall — five feet). It must have been a very low doorway. At first, nobody thought much of it. After watching a few hours of the game, the young king suddenly collapsed. Nobody called a doctor until hours later. He died that very evening. The exact cause is unknown to this day. He had been king (with his older sister as regent) for 15 years.

The menu below is typical of informal restaurants in France. You could order three courses, just two, or even just one, as your budget and appetite required. I've been searching the web for the restaurant this morning, but it seems that it is no longer in business or has been sold and is under new management.

Loches views

I took most of these photos in 2009 with a Panasonic Lumix digital camera. Loches has been a regular stop when we have visitors from the U.S., and it has also been a regular destination for grocery shopping. The town has a big Super U supermarché and also an E. Leclerc hypermarché. The fact is that our Super U in Saint-Aignan has been greatly enlarged over the past few years, and we also have a new LIDL store here now. So now I don't have to drive half an hour to shop at LIDL. It's just five minutes from our house.

The pictures above, from left to right, show the palais de justice in Loches, the église St-Ours, and another of the towns four old gates — this one called la porte des Cordeliers (built in 1498).

This is a 16th century Belgian tapestry that was in either the logis royal or the St-Ours church.

More rooftops, the old bell tower, and the royal residence in Loches

Artwork, etc.

These are photos of some of the things I've seen and photographed in the logis royal, the eglise St-Ours, and on the grounds of the cité médiévale at Loches. I've been there quite a few times over the past 20 years, mostly with visitors of the U.S. I used to go down to Loches, a 35-minute drive to go shopping for groceries and other things, but I haven't done that for quite a long time now. It's a pretty drive.

L'Église Saint-Ours de Loches

According to the Michelin Green guidebook that I have, Saint-Ours was l'apôtre des Lochois — the apostle of the people of Loches — in the 5th Century A.D. I'm not sure what that means, but it at least gives you a date to hang on to. The church was built in the 12th century and dedicated to his memory.

The Cadogan Loire guidebook calls Saint-Ours "a really curious and charming building" and says the unusual thing about it is the two cone-shaped towers built over the bays of the nave. I haven't come across anything saying why they were built that way. Many might agree with the famous 19th century restorer of French monuments and buildings that this church is un édifice d'une étrange et sauvage beauté, unique au monde.

Inside the church you'll see the tomb of the famous Agnès Sorel, who was born in about 1432 and died 28 years later. That's her on the right above. I think I've read that she was the first "official" mistress of a French king (Charles VII) and was said to be the most beautiful woman in the kingdom in those days.

The main entrance door at Saint-Ours is un portail polychrome sculpté de personnages et d’animaux tirés du bestiaire du Moyen Âge" that dates back approximately to the year 1165.

Above and on the streets of Loches

Above are some views out over the town of Loches from up on the citadel.




On the right is the Renaissance-era hôtel de ville de Loches, built in 1535 next to a late-Gothic town gate called the Porte Picois.




Below are some streets in the neighborhood of the hôtel de ville.

Le donjon du château de Loches

The "footprint" on the ground of the donjon du château de Loches is 345 square meters (25.2 x 13.7 meters) and the structure stands 36 meters tall. That's a 3,700 sq. ft. footprint (82 ft. x 45 ft.) and a height of about 120 ft. Above is what it looks like on Google Maps street view. It was built during the first third of the 11th century by the powerful count of Anjou called Foulques Nerra (Fulk "the Black" in English). Fulk's grandson was Geoffry Plantagenet, who married the heir to the English throne (queen Matilda) and started the 300-year reign of England's Plantagenet kings. Below are some of my photos of the château de Loches.

Above and below are some pictures of the donjon at Loches that I took in May 2006. The old tower was used as a prison from the 1500s until 1926.

Loches rooftops

The Cadogan Loire guidebook that I have says about the town of Loches:

Wandering through the curving old streets of the town is a real pleasure... Loches is a splendidly imposing model of medieval defence... Loches is one of the most important medieval strongholds left standing in France... Rather than a single château, the town has a whole upper city (or citadel)...

These are some photos of the town's rooftops that I took from up in that citadel in June 2011.