Chenonceau and Loches

Bonsoir tout le monde!

My computer has been giving me serious grief and so what was going to be an exuberant and excited blog post is now going to be more of a tired and exasperated one.

Today was spent engaged in what could be my favourite occupation, castle exploring!

 

This is me looking happy at Chateau Chenonceau. 

For anyone who likes Game of Thrones, this castle is basically the Twins where the Freys live.

For those who don’t like Game of Thrones – imagine a castle….which is a bridge! 

It is  a pretty amazing castle…it was originally a fortress but in the 16^th Century it was rebuilt in the Renaissance style. 

This castle’s main claim to fame is the noble women who have lived here. Henri II (of France) gave this castle to his “favourite” (mistress) Diane de Poitiers in 1547. Diane was considered to be immensely beautiful as well as very intelligent. Unfortunately for her, however, the King’s wife was a Medici – Catherine de Medici to be exact. After Henri died Catherine became queen regent and kicked Diane out of Chenonceau and made it her own. 

 

This is Diane de Poitier's bedroom. 

Since then, Chenonceau has been the residence of numerous other nobles and served as a hospital in World War One. The River Cher, which Chenonceau is built over, marked the boundary between Free France and Occupied France in the Second World War. The Resistance used the Castle to smuggle goods and people – and, horrifyingly, a German artillery brigade was stationed near Chenonceau to destroy it should it be used in an invasion. 

Chenonceau was full of tourists (I know I can’t talk) so we headed off – stopping for  a quick crepe!

We spent the rest of the day in the Royal City of Loches, which was much more of my kind of place!

For a start, this castle was actually a castle – as in a defensive mechanism! 

It was also a prison....

Loches was home to a castle since the 4^th Century but in the 10^th Century the Counts of Anjou, whose decendents would become the Angevin rulers of England and France, built the Keep/Castle. 

 

This castle was important strategically in a number of struggles throughout French History. Fulk Nerra used it as a strong hold in his conflict with the Counts of Blois.

 

I like to imagine that this is how Fulk would have seen it!

The Plantagenets held it, then John lost it (of course he did!) and then Richard I “Lionheart” won it back (of course he did!)…and then John lost it again after Richard died.

This castle was also where Joan of Arc met the Dauphin for the second time, after the battle of Orleans and convinced him to go to Paris to be consecrated as King!

There is a part of the keep which extends about thirty metres underground. It was used as a prison, but the very lowest level was a quarry from which the castles stones were collected. The hollowed out tunnels were kept because they allowed access to the castle in a siege! 

 

This is actually the torture chamber! Creepy.  The iron bar is where they chained people up. 

 

This is one of the cells, complete with wax prisoners...and wax rats!

 

This is the pathway down to the tunnels and in between the cells. Imagine walking down here in chain mail.

 

This cell was decorated by Ludovico Sforza who was imprisoned here. Ludovico was the Duke of Milan, who commissioned Da Vinci's the Last Supper. He managed to get captured by the French and died here in the 16th Century.

 

 And finally... here is a picture I bought from Loches. It had been part of an exhibition about female warriors.

 

Last day in Paris and then ...Orleans!

Bonsoir!

I am now in Orleans. We caught the train here - it took 1.5h, just enough time for me to eat my train snack (Raspberry and Lime Tart) and then read some of Storm of Swords (i.e. Game of Thrones).

Spent the day exploring Paris...again. Today, ladies and gentlemen, comrades and patriots, I give you:

Cute Apartments of Paris!

Essentially, I just want to live in one of these cute little places, and sit on my balcony and eat raspberries.

I wont be drinking capuccinos in my Parisienne dream however, today I asked for one and was given this:

.....yes, this is a short black with a pile of froth.....

The French are however far more accomplished at making pastries. So much so that I won't fault them the coffee...

They also make some pretty good bread!

And finally here is the view from my hotel room in Orleans. 

The concierge at this hotel is officially my favourite French person ever after he conducted the whole checking in process in the world's slowest French for me. 

A Bientot!

Sara in the Louvre

Good morning everyone!

It's my second day in Paris. The hotel which we are staying at has a shower which is more temperamental than I am in the morning, which is quite an achievement for an animate object, let alone an inanimate one!

This bath, from the Louvre I feel would have been a better choice for the Hotel Alane to install in view of my pending arrival.... although, I fear it might be larger than the whole bathroom (and maybe the whole room!)

In my first two days in Paris, I have mostly been looking at the pretty Paris apartments, with their pretty windowboxes full of flowers and all the pretty (and not so pretty) people in Paris.

Dad and I did a whirlwind tour of the Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower and Latin Quarter. I bought the entire works of Foucault....in two volumes....in French!

But the reason I started this today was because yesterday I finally found something that I felt was worth putting up online.... Sara's adventures at the Louvre.

Despite having to wade through the crowds, the Louvre is just about the most amazing place in the world...and I do feel confident in saying that despite having not seen particularly much of the world. I'll withhold judgement until I see Jerusalem, Florence and Venice....but, until then the Louvre is the most amazing place in the world.

For example, ladies and gentlemen, this is not a priceless artwork in the Louvre's collection.... This is the ceiling that hangs above the priceless artworks!!!! Apols for the terrible lighting.

Here is a picture of the Sabine women stopping the conflict between the Sabines and the Romans. For those who don't know the story, the Romans invited the Sabines to a feast....then stole all their women and kicked the men out of the city. Romulus you sly dog!!!

Anyways, the Sabines came back for their women, in a bit of a rage, and also, if you believe this artist, naked! War broke out, but the Sabine women could not bear to see their fathers and brothers fighting the Romans they had come to love and so stopped the conflict....and also by the looks of it, got their tops off.

  

While we're on a Roman theme, here's everyone's favourite Roman, Augustus. The adopted son of Julius Caesar, Augustus was the one who brought peace (or dictatorship, which ever way you look at it) after the collapse of the Republican system.

 

And this is Agrippa, who basically fought all his battles. 

 

This one made me gasp out loud! Like a lame fan girl. Anyways, this is Liberty Leading the People. But as you can see I have cut most of the people out because the lighting in the place makes it difficult to get shots of the whole painting. To give some context she is leading brigands with pistols over a pile of corpses. Win. 

 

Here is a statue entitled Jesus: Dead. It's from the High Middle Ages or Early Modern Period. I am a bad person for not looking when, from memory 15th/16th Century...?

Anyway - the reason I photographed it was because of how gruesome it was, note Jesus' stab wound, bloodied knees and rotting feet! Eek. 

And here is some pretty ladies having a smoke....

Finally here is a quick picture from the Sorbonne bookstore (Librarie Jean Vrin for those who are interested) where I bought my epic Foucault collection. The whole bookshop was devoted to philosophy/social theory and there were pretty French people all looking educated and philosophical drifting around. 

 

If you can't see it clearly yes...this is the used book section with Foucault sitting next to Freud. PURRRRRRR!!!!!

Anyways, Au Revoir!