Curious Traveler

It's the land of French kings, queens, castles and conspiracies, today we follow the path of saints, greats, even the Mona Lisa. It is time to get curious about the Loire Valley. Remember when you were a child and all you asked was why, why, why? Well I never quite outgrew that whole quest for knowledge phase, in fact, I've made a career out of asking who, what, where, why, and how. As an arts and travel journalist for the past 20 years. So if I have an insatiable curiosity about the exciting, inspiring, beautiful world of art, architecture, and hidden history all around us, I bet you do too. This isn't your typical what to do on a vacation travel show, oh no. This is your all access pass to a deeper understanding of the world's great art and architecture, people and places, history and how did they do thats. So come along on our educational journey. Our field trip for grown-ups who have never quite grown up and learn on Curious Traveler. There is a region in central France known as the cradle of the French. It's a UNESCO world heritage site and there are more than 300 beautiful chateau all in one small area. Why are they there? Well it has a little something to do with kings, wars, wine, women, and song, the French Renaissance and a couple of trips to Italy. The Loire valley has so much to be curious about. (playful French music) Here's what I'm curious about in France's Loire valley. Why are there so many fairy tale castles in one small area? -

Man

Huh? -

Christine

Why is there a tiny city up here? -

Man

Huh? -

Christine

Why does a river run through it? How did this castle save a man's life? -

Man

Huh? -

Christine

What does the Mona Lisa have to do with this castle and this one and this one? Is that the secret she's smiling about? (child laughs) So question number one, why are there so many castles in one small region? There has to be a reason why this area has these and no other place has them, what is the reason? So many chateau, because at the end of the middle age, the king was no more in Paris, he lived there in Loire valley so where is a king, there is a power, and when there is a power you have money. So at this time, there was no more war in the kingdom of France, so the taste was to live in a palace, very luxury, very comfortable. It's why you have so many chateau in Loire valley in a very small space. -

Christine

This peaceful and prosperous time period was during the Renaissance but Loire valley's origins go back much further where sometimes the answer to history's mysteries is simply food and water. -

Man

Huh? -

Christine

The Loire Valley is known as the cradle of the French. And the garden of France because of its fertile soil. And you know how the French love their wine and cuisine. (man grunts) So fertile soil and close access to the water of the Loire river and its tributaries, meant little civilizations popped up here Millennia ago. -

Man

Ah. -

Christine

Fast forward to the early Middle Ages when the villagers built protective fortresses high upon the hills, you know, to keep an eye out for the bad guys. Little did they know that just a few hundred years later these Disney-esque fairy tale chateau would be built atop their fortresses ruins. And once the kings moved in, the nobility soon followed, building their own chateau. Gotta be close to kiss up to the king, right? (lips smacking) But where did this iconic French Renaissance architectural style come from? You definitely know a French chateau when you see one. Wait, it is French isn't it? -

Man

Huh? We think of this as true French architecture but in fact, it actually came from Italy or was inspired by Italian. The kings and all his people of his court, discovered Italy and the Renaissance. So they wanted to have it and copying it was not enough, they invited the artists to come to France. So let us begin our curious exploration of the Loire Valley chateau with the grandest grand-daddy of all the chateau, Chateau De Chambord. The Royal Chateau de Chambord is the largest castle in the entire Loire Valley. With 440 rooms, 84 staircases and 800 sculpted columns. It is also known for its distinctive roof line that is completely symmetrical or is it? -

Man

Huh? -

Christine

Well we do know for sure that King Francis the first loved the arts and pretty much wanted to show off (man grunts) by building this giant castle in the 16th century. Mission accomplished as Chateau de Chambord is six times larger than any other chateau in the Loire Valley. -

Man

Whoa. So grand, such a statement of the king's power, such intricate carvings by only the best French master masons, the only problem is King Francis never actually lived here. Nobody ever actually lived here? That's right. How can that be? Because it was built by King Francis the first to show that he was the greatest man on earth. So a lot of showing off but not a real practical use. That's it. There are many towers so that was a sign that the person who built it was somebody important. -

Christine

Next, why was this location chosen? -

Man

Huh? -

Christine

Well believe it or not, all this grandeur was built to be a hunting lodge of sorts which also explains all the land and forest surrounding Chambord. Back when the rich and famous would go hunting on the weekends instead of golfing. I still don't know which one is worse. -

Man

Yee-haw! -

Christine

In addition to a hunting lodge, the royals also hosted legendary soirees here. -

Woman

Que belle fete! -

Christine

So the architecture had to be impressive. The style is a unique mix of medieval, gothic, and renaissance. There's four massive bastion towers, connected by a protective wall that creates a giant keep but who needs a Medieval wall during the time of Renaissance peace? -

Man

Huh? When we are the time of the Renaissance when it's built but France is the first to apparently like everything that had to do with what we now call the Middle Ages, knight and fortresses. So the castle is in fact a fortress of the Middle Ages with ornament which is typical Renaissance. -

Christine

The most interesting architectural features are up on the roof top. With a mish-mash of towers, chimneys, and spires, facing every which way, no two exactly matching. It's almost like it's own little cityscape up here. -

Man

Ah. And inside leading up to the roof top, there's another marvelous curiosity. One of the most impressive pieces of architecture is this double helix staircase. We actually have one helix on one side, one on the other, they wind around up three floors and never touch. It would take a genius to design this, right? Well that it is why it is believed that Leonardo Da Vinci did this. That's right, the Renaissance genius himself. And one of his masterpieces has a curious connection to Chambord too. -

Man

Huh? There's a wonderful story about what happened here during World War II, obviously war is never anything to smile about but there was a little sneaky trick played on the bad guys here. Yeah, in fact, in different places in the Loire Valley, all the pieces of art from the museums of Paris, well not all of them but a lot of them, were taken away and sheltered in some of the castles here. They were hidden away here, so when they went to the Louvre thinking they were going to get all the masterpieces, quite surprised. And one of those masterpieces was none other than the Mona Lisa. -

Man

Whoa. -

Christine

And before the Mona Lisa was brought to Chambord in the 20th century she was brought to our next curious chateau, in the 16th century on the back of a mule. -

Man

Huh? While Chambord's location was chosen for its hunting grounds, our next chateau is the perfect example of a Renaissance castle built a top an ancient Gala Roman fortress on a prime hilltop lookout point over the Loire river. This is the beautiful Chateau D'Amboise, named after Louis Amboise, who famously in the 1430s was caught plotting against the king. In fact, he was even scheduled to be executed but the king says, I will spare your life on one condition, you gotta give me that pretty house. That's exactly what happened and thus began the royal history of Chateau D'Amboise as a royal residence for the French monarchy. A rough start to what became the home to a long line of French royalty. The center of kingdom was here in the Loire Valley and there lives the King's family lived here for more than one century. Wow. And symbols of these royal families are everywhere. You just have to know where to look. -

Man

Huh? All throughout the chateau you will see this symbol which most people know as the fleur de lis and of course the symbol of the French monarchy. But what is this next symbol? And then we have this symbol as well. This is known as the mink's tail and it's the symbol of Brittany. But why is that there? Our last clue is behind us once again. And here we can see the two symbols coming together. If you see the coat of arms above the fireplace. That's the fleur de lis to represent Charles the eighth when he married Anne of Brittany with the mink's tail there on the same coat of arms. This is because in 1491, not only did they get married but their two powerful kingdoms came together. Nice wedding present huh? (child laughs) And of course, this is what marriages were all about for those Renaissance royals, important political alliances and expanding that kingdom. Whether you two actually enjoyed each other's company was irrelevant. -

Man

Yikes. -

Christine

The perfect example is Henry the second and his wife Catherine de' Medici. They lived here at Amboise while his mistress lived in another Loire Valley castle. -

Woman

Ooh la la. That could not have been comfortable dinner conversation. -

Man

Yikes. -

Christine

King Francis the first grew up here too and later became known as the king of the arts. He loved the arts so much, he invited the star of the Renaissance arts world, Leonardo Da Vinci to be his royal artist in residence. -

Jean

Francis the first was proud of himself. Ah. So it was, he had an obsession to be a king for the history and it's why invited Leonardo here in Loire's natural valley because Leonardo, at this time, was a very very famous artist. Of course. And there's a wonderful legend that there was an underground tunnel built between Chateau d'Amboise and Leo's house. -

Man

Huh? The tie between Leonardo and the king was very very strong. But it was not a secret. So why to use a tunnel to come the chateau, it was not necessary. But it's very nice to tell the story now. Well secret passageway or not, Leonardo Da Vinci's house is just a short walk away through the little village of Amboise. And connected to Chateau D'Amboise is this chateau, Chateau de Clos Luce, where in 1516 the King of France, Francis the first, invited none other than Leonardo Da Vinci to come live here. Leonardo said sure but I gotta bring my stuff. Of the three masterpieces he brought, one happened to be a little painting called the Mona Lisa, that's right he brought it here to Clos Luce on not horseback, but muleback, seriously. Hard to believe but the most famous painting in the world was transported here for miles from Italy on the back of a humble mule. -

Mule

Uh, mamma mia. -

Christine

Hopefully you bought that extra shipping insurance. (child laughs) When King Francis invited Da Vinci, he said come to Clos Luce to be free to think, to dream, and to work. Why, what was wrong with thinking, dreaming, and working back in Italy? -

Man

Huh? He had to face his best rivals such as Michelangelo and Rafael and Leonardo didn't receive any orders to responding to his status. Leonardo was relegated to a position of secondary importance and all of his reasons, explain his coming to France in 1560. -

Christine

Da Vinci was an engineer, a scientist, a philosopher and of course, an artist. Today you can see many of his genius inventions come to life, these are all modern day 3-D models taken from Da Vinci's original sketches for everything for early military tanks to an aerial screw to an incredible flying machine. Centuries before the Wright brothers took flight. (man grunts) Leonardo was an exceptional man. The genius of mankind. Leonardo Da Vinci only lived three more years once he moved to Clos Luce and fittingly when he passed he was laid to rest back at the small chapel next to Chateau D'Amboise. Now there's a legend that says Da Vinci's remains were later removed and reburied somewhere else but that's a curiosity for another time. Now we must move on to our next chateau, the Chateau of the Ladies. Chateau de Chenonceau is known for many reasons, its exquisite architecture, the fact that there's a river running through it, and not the least of which, it's also known as the Castle of the Ladies. That is because between the 1500s and the 1800s, a whole slew of ladies from queens to noble women to mistresses, ooh la la, all put their stamp on Chenonceau. And it all starts with our first lady of Chenonceau, in 1496 who built a French Renaissance castle on top of an old water mill. -

Man

Huh? Her name was Katherine Briconnet. Okay. Her husband was a banker. Okay. Who had built an old fortress, knocked it down, and he built his castle in the style of the Renaissance. Then he made mistakes with his business so he lost his castle and the castle became royal. But a very interesting type of royal castle. King Francis the first owns it but he's too busy working on Chambord, so his son, King Henry the second, gives Chenonceau to the woman he loves. Nice gift, eh? -

Woman

Ooh la la. -

Christine

Well the only problem is that woman just happens to be his mistress, Diane de Poictiers, not his wife Catherine de' Medici. -

Woman

Mon dieu. -

Christine

While Catherine was none too pleased, apparently royal society had no problem with this little arrangement. Diane becomes one of the most influential women of France. She gave grand parties and expanded Chenonceau over the river. And she wanted to cross the river to go hunting. Of course she did. Of course. So swimming in salt is not good. So she built a bridge across the river. -

Christine

But Diane's fun came to an end in 1559 when King Henry the second died. Now Catherine de' Medici could finally take her revenge on the other woman. (man laughs) And she did the worst thing one woman could do to another. No not make fun of her hair, she simply kicked Diane out and moved into her castle. That was a bit of a, I don't know how you can say, a between the mistress and the wife of the king. One can figure that one out, okay, a little bit of a tiff. -

Woman

Mine, mine, my castle. Catherine de' Medici became the Lady of Chenonceau and she built the gallery, the double gallery on top of the bridge. -

Christine

So that's the good news, Catherine de' Medici didn't destroy the mistress's castle, in fact she made it even better. She added these glorious galleries over Diane's bridge and added gorgeous gardens and courtyards too. Next from the keep my man but give me the castle queen to the White Queen. When Catherine de' Medici died in 1589, she gave Chenonceau to her daughter-in-law, Louise of Lorraine, known as the White Queen who liked to hang out in the black room. -

Man

Huh? -

Christine

When Queen Louise's husband was assassinated, she went into a deep depression lasting years. She rarely left this black room so why was she called the White Queen? -

Man

Huh? -

Christine

Because back then the traditional color of mourning clothes for French royalty was white. -

Man

Ah. -

Christine

But we gotta end on a happy note so let's fast forward to the Age of Enlightenment, when yet another lady of the castle swoops in to save Chenonceau. In the 18th century, we had Madame Dupont. She came from Paris, she lived here 70 years and her guests were all the famous philosophers and writers of the time, like Voltaire, Rosseau, Montesquieu, and so on. -

Christine

Madame Dupont not only restored Chenonceau to its former glory, she was even able to protect Chenonceau during the French revolution while other chateau were being ransacked. How? Well she was able to convince the revolutionaries that her bridge was the only way to cross the Cher river. And according to legend, it was also partly because the revolutionaries liked Madame Dupont's friendship with the Enlightenment crowd. -

Man

Hurrah! -

Christine

So this humble water mill became a true cradle of the Renaissance and later the Enlightenment, flourishing with new architecture, new gardens, and new ideas, even if it bubbled over every so often with a few female feuds. -

Woman

Mine, mine, mine. -

Christine

While Chenonceau was clearly the ladies castle, our next curious chateau, the Royal Chateau de Blois has a bit of an identity crisis. It looks like four separate castles in one. -

Man

Huh? Chateau de Blois started in the 10th century. Joan of Arc came to de Blois to be blessed and countless dukes, kings, several Henry's, a couple of de' Medici's, and Francis the first, all lived or visited the royal castle. All of the seven reigning kings in the 16th century resided here on a temporary basis. So it's undoubtedly the chateau where the court was most often present in Loire Valley. -

Christine

And some of those royals even did some redecorating including a rather prickly one. -

Man

Huh? All throughout the chateau you will see not a bear, not a lion, not even a fairy tale unicorn, instead you will see a porcupine. Why is that there? Well it was because Louis the 12th adopted the porcupine as his own personal emblem. Seems a little strange but think about it. A porcupine can throw his own quills out at the enemy so the idea here is, don't get close to the royal power and enemies better stay away. This was all part of the Order of the Knights of the Porcupine. Other orders of this time period included the Orders of the Yellow Ribbon and the Orders of the Belt of Hope and the Orders of the Broom-cod. What the heck is a broom-cod? -

Man

Yikes. Now onto a bigger curiosity, where can you read the history of four great epics of French architecture from the 13th through the 17th century all by standing in one courtyard? Well, right here at Chateau de Blois. The first castle began in the ninth century, just a simple fortress to protect from Vikings only a few remnants of that castle remain but the 13th century expansion is still here and is still glorious. This is the magnificent (speaks in French), the largest and oldest civic hall in all of France from the 13th century. And this of course is where the kings and queens would hold their magnificent festivities and as you can see all along the ceiling we have the magnificent fleur de lis, the sign of the French monarchy. The next wings are from the 1500s, Louis the seventh's gothic wing, with that brick facade and of course his equestrian statue and porcupine over the entrance. And Francis the first's Renaissance wing said to be inspired by the architecture of the Vatican and in the center is the grand spiral staircase. You could walk out to the balconies, see what's happening in a busy courtyard, like a theater setting, especially see who's in the staircase. That's very important. Okay so some royal secrets could be overheard here but King Francis also added a royal library and this room called the Chamber of Secrets, long before J.K. Rowling wrote a book called that. (crowd laughing) It's the only royal study in France that's kept it's original woodwork. Amazing. So you've got 237 panels here. They were referred to as a (speaks French) which means four secrets if you like, so when the King would come here for example, with an ambassador, I'm going to show you part of my collections and you would come into an empty room and where are the collections, you'll find them, they're in the walls but you have to find the access. Oh my gosh, little secret panels. Legend has it this is also where Catherine de' Medici would hide her poisons. (man laughing) But there was nothing secret about the fourth and final wing of Chateau de Blois. In the early 17th century, Louis the 13th's brother, Gaston of Orleans, had a rather important project in mind to totally rebuild the chateau. -

Christine

Why completely rebuild a perfectly good castle? Well you know how kings can be. (man grunts) But Gaston's greed got the better of him. When the future Louis the 14th was born, Gaston was no longer heir to the throne so he lost his fortune and his big castle project went unfinished. And today it just adds to the incredible four part French history lesson that is the Royal Chateau de Blois. So a giant castle fit for a king, although never lived in by one, with a mysterious double helix staircase perhaps designed by Renaissance genius who lived in his own Loire Valley chateau, that may have been connected under ground to yet another chateau, which a king wanted so badly he threatened to kill the owner to get it. -

Man

Yikes. -

Christine

And in that very castle, lived a king with his wife while his mistress lived in another castle. -

Woman

Ooh la la. Where a river literally ran through it and we finally end at a four winged castle for an art loving king with yet another superb spiral staircase in it and a porcupine or two. Thank you for joining us on our educational journey and hopefully now you're even more curious about the who, what, where, why and how of the beautiful Loire Valley, as they say here in France, avianto. (happy instrumental music) -

Man

It looks like you have no hand when you have-- Oh okay sorry. -

Man

It's okay, still rolling. Three, two, one. Yeah. Merci beau coup. Thank you, thank you. A round of applause. - Very kind of you. Round of applause. Still curious? Go to curioustravelertv.com and follow us on Facebook @CuriousTravelerTV, on Twitter @CuriousTravTV, and on Instagram @CuriousTravelerTV. (upbeat music)