Une sortie au département de Loir et Cher: First day - Cheverny

The Loir and Cher is in the Centre Region of France and gets its name from the two rivers that cross it. One to the north, the Loir and the other to the south, the Cher. There are loads of Chateaux in this area, around 35 in all, some of which are extremely well known and are a must for any visitor venturing into the region. 

The two we'd decided to visit were Chateau de  Cheverny and Chateau de Chambord. Vastly different buildings with vastly different histories. Chambord was and remains essentially a political statement with very little sense of comfort about it and is state owned and maintained. Cheverny is very much a home and has been lived in by the same family for six centuries, so privately owned and maintained.

Les Chambres Vertes where we were staying for two nights, was a perfect spot to get to both Chateaux and also was really close by to Chaumont which we were going to on our way back home to Cravant.  A good choice, owned and run by Sophie a charming Parisienne with whom we had lots of interesting conversations. She is also a bio enthusiast, so edibles and usables were sourced carefully. Weatherwise - well we just had to get on with it, meaning dress for rain and chill and hope for the best. Chateau de Cheverny was literally about fifteen minutes away from Les Chambres Vertes and isn't very big, so we arrived mid-afternoon leaving ourselves about 3 hours to have a good stomp around.

Chateau de Cheverny is a gem. Plenty of visitors, so photos were a bit tricky inside and outside, as in this image, grabbing a shot in between people and rain.From the outside Cheverny looks substantial. The inside is beautifully presented and despite the richness of life and decoration, still has the feeling of family, although the rooms are decorated and furnished to different family tastes and social position, according to period.

Downstairs in the first floor reception rooms, elaborate wallpapers and highly decorated wooden panelled ceilings were the form, along with beautiful furniture crafted as you'd expect, to exceptional standard. It is always a surprise how a space that is decorated in such a heavily patterned way - wall paper, curtains, carpets, door panels, paintings - still manages to avoid the feeling of being oppressively fussy. Cheverny managed this in every room, whether it was the children's nursery, the armament room, the tea room, lounge or bedrooms. The quality of the light was interesting as well. Through careful use and choice of fabric, light fittings and their positioning, a gorgeous and subtle warm light was achieved right through the house.

Back outside, we found the grounds to be typically manicured, but again there was a charm about them, which meant they were very relaxing to walk around. A mixture of herbaceous borders, shrubs, walkways of trees and a wisteria arch. Couldn't get a decent shot of it, as the sky had suddenly got very grey and looked as if it was just about to burst with rain. At the end of the archway was a tea room, so we dived in there.  A three hour visit is about right for Cheverny. There's more than enough time to get round the house where a lot of the rooms are actually quite small, and of course all round the gardens. However there's something extra at Cheverny which was a real treat. 

Anyone who is into Tintin has to go to Cheverny. The author of the legendary Tintin comic books, Hergé,  modelled Moulinsart - our hero's palatial home, after Cheverny, which is regarded as one of the most beautiful in the Loire. The Domaine de Cheverny and the Hergé Foundation have joined together to create a permanent exhibition at the chateau called The Secrets of Moulinsart. Animations, original drawings, artworks and props, rooms set up as scenes from some of the books, sound effects, secret panels. It's such fun. So very well done. We had a great time in there.





By the way in case there are questions about my spelling,  there are the Loir and the Loire rivers, as well as the départments of Loir et Cher and Indre et Loire. Tricky letter the  e!