Castles of the Loire Valley

France has hundreds of castles and palaces, and many of the most beautiful are in the valley of the Loire River, about three hours southwest of Paris. We visited only a few of them, starting with one of the most famous, Chenonceau.

They call it the "castle of six ladies" because over the years, six ladies have been in charge of it: building it, decorating it, expanding it. The first one was a mistress of the king, and the second was his wife, who kicked out the mistress as soon as the king died. It forms a bridge of graceful arches across a small river. Look at this amazing bedroom! Can you imagine sleeping in a bed like this?

The second chateau was lesser known, called Villandry. It was owned by wealthy noble families until 1905, when a Spanish science professor and his wife, the daughter of a wealthy American family from Pennsylvania, bought it. They raised six children in luxury there. They did a lot to fix the place up, but the most amazing thing they did was research about Renaissance gardens and create some absolutely fantastic gardens, with both flowers and vegetables. Can you recognize the shapes? I took two of these photos from the top of a tower, which is called a "keep."

We ended the day at Chinon, which has a fortress high on a hill. It was in ruins until recently, then the French rebuilt it. It is famous for two reasons: first, Joan of Arc came here to beg the Prince of France to let her lead an army to drive out the English. She was only sixteen years old and she had never fought before, but she said she heard divine voices, and the prince trusted her. She led the army and won many battles before the English captured her and killed her by burning her alive.

Earlier, this fortress was occupied by the English king Henry II and his sons, Richard the Lion-Hearted and Geoffrey and John. The three sons were always plotting against each other, trying to get power. Sounds like a nasty family. John was later a much-hated king of England during the time of Robin Hood. Here is what the fortress looks like now, after the rebuilding.