In the heart of the village

Monday 16th June

Our drive today took us northwards again, to the village of Bracieux, near Blois and in the Loire Valley. We took a slight detour along the way to visit another beautiful village, Gargilesse-Dampierre (who thinks up these names? Do they have a meaning?) This village is again 11th century with a Romanesque church. The nave of the church has beautiful capitals with narrative scenes (and English descriptions of the scenes), and in the crypt there are 12th to 15th century frescoes. George Sand, a female French writer, has a house in this village. She strongly advocated for women's rights and chose to wear men's clothes in public - in the 1800s you needed a permit to do this. At one stage she had a relationship with Frederic Chopin - the piano composer.

Chateau de Culan

Chateau at Gargilesse Dampierre

Frescoes in the crypt of the church.

One of the capitals - there were a couple of dozen of them. 

The church at Gargilesse-Dampierre. 

The remains of one of the towers -
most of the walls were destroyed during the civil wars in 1650s.

Inside this tower was the workshop of a lacemaker,
who makes jewellery with fine lace. I bought a couple of pieces.  

Gates to the Chateau.

Gargilesse-Dampierre. 

In the town of Valencay - 2 chateaux on either side of the road.
Is this a mine is bigger than yours scenario?

We were there at the wrong time of day but there was an exhibition in the Chateau of works of 15 women. With its link to George Sand the village is a big supporter of women and their talents.

Lunch today was a tradie lunch. We haven't had very many of these this trip - maybe they are not as common in the areas we have been travelling.

Another beautiful apartment in Bracieux, with a terrasse. We are here for 5 nights and plan to check out some of the chateaux in the area.

Tuesday 17th June

Our apartment is right in the very narrow main street of the village. It is the thru road from somewhere to somewhere and as well as many cars, there are trucks of all sizes and shapes, and busses, including tour busses. It can be very noisy to hear the trucks come past, and hit the picks at our corner. I keep expecting to hear the crash of metal, but so far, so good. Mind you, backing the car out of the driveway into this can be a challenge. I stand on the edge of the road to check the traffic and wave him out. Thankfully the french are very polite when it comes to this sort of thing, and they just stop and wait till I get in the car and we move off. 

First stop, the tourist information office in Blois to work out which are the must see chateaux in the area. 

Chateau no 1 - Chateau Royal de Blois. We spent 2 hours touring the Chateau. Really good information in English about most of the things we were seeing. Unfortunately this chateau was extensively refurnished during the 18th century so floors, walls and ceilings are more modern, but they had a lot of pieces of furniture from earlier times. The Chateau has 4 wings in 4 different styles - Gothic from 13th century, flamboyant from 15th century,  Renaissance from 16th century and classicism from 17th century. 

Porthuis - one of the 3 musketeers.

I thought this was Joan of Arc, but it's actually one of the kings
- on the Chateau Royal de Blois.
But Joan of Arc had a connection to Blois.
She made Blois her base in 1429 for the relief of Orleans.
(Don't you just love these useless facts.) 

Chateau Royal de Blois.

Beautiful staircase - the Renaissance period.

One of the tapestries - there weren't a huge number in this chateau.
A video we saw in the Chateau talked about tapestries taken by the Germans to Germany
and only found and returned in the last century.

These stained glass windows were in the Saint-Calais chapel
- they were fairly recent to replace the ones bombed during WWII.

 

As close as they are going to get to royalty.

Salamander sculpture appeared often in the chateau.
This was chosen by the monarch - the animal illustrated his motto
"I nourish the good and extinguish the bad".
In those days, the salamander was said to have the ability to extinguish or feed on fire, although this is obviously a myth. (More useless facts for you.)
We also often saw a porcupine with a crown. This was the symbol and the motto chosen by Louis de France to tell friends and foes "who rubs against it stings against it".

The back of the chateau as we walked along the street.

Following the tour it was time for a long leisurely lunch in the city. There is more to see in Blois so we will visit there again another day.