As a guide, I find Chaumont rather frustrating. Its real value now is the magnificent park and the garden festival — a fantastic transition to a modern reuse for the estate. The chateau also has the best setting in terms of vistas of any of the Loire chateau. The 19th century farm buildings are terrific examples of enlightened wealthy landowners striving for ‘model farming’. However, the interior bothers the purist in me. I love Charlotte Say and all her excentricities, but she and the Prince turned the place into a 19th century novel reader’s idea of what a renaissance chateau should look like. It’s hard work sifting through what is original, and what they brought in, and now it’s all overlaid with what the modern curators have brought in too. The Broglies had money and enthusiasm, but taste, restraint, and an eye for design were sadly not traits they possessed. It’s part of the chateau’s history now, but really complicated to present so visitors understand what they are looking at.
[…] Château de Chaumont stands in a prize position overlooking the Loire and is best seen from the other side of the river. From April to October, it hosts a wonderful garden festival with a different theme each year. The château as it stands today was rebuilt from 1468 to 1511. It was bought by Catherine de Medicis, wife of Henri II (son of François I) in 1550. On his death, she forced her husband’s paramour, Diane de Poitiers, to swap Chenonceau, a gift from Henri, for Chaumont. […]
[…] In recent years, we’ve cycled along the path on the opposite side several times and taken some wonderful photos of outside but we haven’t visited the interior for some […]
[…] off by 10.30 am to Montrichard on the Cher River, about a half an hour’s drive from Blois, via Chaumont. We are going to get cycle maps at the tourist […]
Monday’s Travel Photos – Château de Chaumont, Loire Valley, France http://t.co/J1LMUCaEbF
As a guide, I find Chaumont rather frustrating. Its real value now is the magnificent park and the garden festival — a fantastic transition to a modern reuse for the estate. The chateau also has the best setting in terms of vistas of any of the Loire chateau. The 19th century farm buildings are terrific examples of enlightened wealthy landowners striving for ‘model farming’. However, the interior bothers the purist in me. I love Charlotte Say and all her excentricities, but she and the Prince turned the place into a 19th century novel reader’s idea of what a renaissance chateau should look like. It’s hard work sifting through what is original, and what they brought in, and now it’s all overlaid with what the modern curators have brought in too. The Broglies had money and enthusiasm, but taste, restraint, and an eye for design were sadly not traits they possessed. It’s part of the chateau’s history now, but really complicated to present so visitors understand what they are looking at.
[…] Château de Chaumont stands in a prize position overlooking the Loire and is best seen from the other side of the river. From April to October, it hosts a wonderful garden festival with a different theme each year. The château as it stands today was rebuilt from 1468 to 1511. It was bought by Catherine de Medicis, wife of Henri II (son of François I) in 1550. On his death, she forced her husband’s paramour, Diane de Poitiers, to swap Chenonceau, a gift from Henri, for Chaumont. […]
[…] In recent years, we’ve cycled along the path on the opposite side several times and taken some wonderful photos of outside but we haven’t visited the interior for some […]
[…] saw this tree when we were cycling between Chaumont sur Loire and Candé sur Beuvron. It looked as though it was about to move […]
[…] off to visit Château de Chaumont with Black Cat and the Flying Dutchman. I suggest we park along the Loire and take the front […]
[…] off by 10.30 am to Montrichard on the Cher River, about a half an hour’s drive from Blois, via Chaumont. We are going to get cycle maps at the tourist […]