Snapshot: Châteaus of the Loire River Valley

Posted on Friday, December 28, 2012

BRAIN-SUR-LONGUENÉE, FRANCE – We took a few days out of our indulgent holiday schedule to explore the area in and around the Loire River Valley. Toting our trusty map on which we had hand-marked the locations of many of the castles, fortresses, and palaces (all labeled as châteaus in French) of the area, we set off to find and photograph each of these architectural marvels.

A special thanks goes out to our adventurous 8-year old co-pilot, Charlotte, for joining us on our second day of exploration. Merci boucoup, Charlotte!

Le Château de Fougères: Construction began on this fortress in the 11th century by the House of Amboise. Located directly on top of a swamp, it is one of Europe’s largest medieval fortresses, with 13 watch towers and 3 gated entries.

Le Château du Plessis-Macé: Originally built in the Middle Ages, this castle was reconstructed in the Gothic style the mid-15th century after the Hundred Years’ War.

Le Château de Craon: Having only changed hands twice since it’s construction almost 250 years ago, the Château de Craon sits on over 100 acres of  meticulously maintained gardens.

Château de Challain: Built as a private residence by the Count and Countess of La Rochefoucauld-Bayers, this Neogothic style castle was designed by a famous Parisian architect, Louis Visconti and completed in 1854. The castle and the property it sits on make up a large portion of the tiny village in which it is located, Challain la Potherie.

Le Château des Rues: Located in the quaint river town of Chenillé-Changé, this castle was also greatly damaged during the Hundred Years’ War and has been rebuilt and renovated twice since the mid-18th century.

Le Château de Montriou: This lakeside castle has been in the same family for over 300 years with its own chapel. To our delight, when we asked the  very old gardener at the gate if we could enter the grounds to photograph the castle, she responded in French, “If you can, you can!”

Le château du Plessis-Bourré: This castle, with its moat and still fully functional drawbridge, was built in less than 5 years in the 15th century by King Louis XI’s principal advisor, Jean Bourré. Incredibly, its exterior hasn’t once been renovated since construction over 500 years ago and is still very well intact. 

Château de Saumur: This castle has changed many hands, as well as purposes, over the last 950 years. Originally built as a fortress to defend the Loire Valley against the Normans, it later became a private residence, army barracks, state prison and an art museum. It has a magnificent dungeon and watch tower, and today also houses an equestrian museum to celebrate the area’s passion for all things horse.

Le Château de Brissac: Saved from demolition after a long and harrowing war-time history, this castle’s façade was rebuilt in the Baroque style in the 17th century. It maintains its two front medieval towers and at 7 stories tall is the tallest château in all of the Loire Valley.

Le Château d’Angers: The only castle in the area that is open to visitors during the winter, the Angers Castle was originally built as a fortress by the Romans. After changing hands many times, mostly within the same family, one interesting modification took place at the hands of Henry III when he reduced the height of the towers and used the excess stones to construct streets and buildings in the town of Angers. Also, the castle is home to the Apocalypse Tapestry, the oldest French tapestry in existence.

Finally, we visited the non-chateau site of the Troglodyte Village in the town of Rochmenier. Characterized by hobbit-like cave-homes built into the sides of quarries, the village makes up the largest and most complete system of troglodyte dwellings in France. Here, guests can visit two underground homes carved out of the limestone and see what life was like during the time of these ancient people. Like the majority of the castles in the area, the museum and troglodyte home were closed during our December visit, but walking around the semi-deserted town was perhaps even more our style. Charlotte’s favorite stop here was the sweet, old donkey, which she visited twice before leaving.

Click HERE to see the rest of the photos from our time exploring the area in and around the Loire River Valley!

Posted: December 28th, 2012 | Filed under: France, Snapshot, Travel Updates | Tags: Brain sur longueneef, castle, cave, cave dwelling, Charlotte, Chateau, Château de Challain, Château de Saumur, France, Le Château d'Angers, Le Château de Brissac, Le Château de Craon, Le Château de Fougères, Le Château de Montriou, Le Château des Rues, Le château du Plessis-Bourré, Le Château du Plessis-Macé, Loire, River, Rochmenier, troglodyte, Valley | 1 Comment »

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