Chenonceau and Chartres, France

Tuesday, June 20th. We woke up with the most amazing view of the chateau. Mikel asked what I was doing for the next 30 years and if would I spend it with him. He proposed and asked me to marry him! Of course, I said YES. I went to Anya's room to tell her and that is when she told me she already knew and he had told her at Mont St Michel!

We toured Chambord early and enjoyed seeing the interior of the chateau. They hid a lot of Paris art here during WWII.

We drove to Chenonceau and it is my favorite. It is on the river Cher and we enjoyed lunch on the grounds.

The history of the Château de Chenonceau is defined by an almost uninterrupted succession of women who built, embellished, protected, restored, and saved it. The first château was a medieval château dating from the 12th and 13th centuries.

In 1535, King Francis I incorporated it into the Crown Estate as part of a debt settlement. Later, King Henry II decided to offer it not to the Queen, but to his Favorite, Diane de Poitiers, “in full right of ownership, seisin and possession, completely, peacefully and perpetually, to dispose of as her own and true patrimony.” This artificial exit of Chenonceau from Crown Lands meant that it was saved, two centuries later, from the French Revolution.

On 10 July 1559, Queen Catherine de Medici, widow of Henry II, quickly deposed Diane de Poitiers and installed the authority of the young king, her son, at Chenonceau, amidst Italian pomp and splendor. Amongst the festivities she held here, she managed the Kingdom of France from her study, the Green Cabinet. Her daughter-in-law, Louise de Lorraine, wife of King Henry III, became a widow in turn and moved into the château in her mourning.

In the 18th century, after the château was purchased by her husband, it was Louise Dupin, lady of the Enlightenment, who welcomed to Chenonceau the greatest scholars, philosophers, and academicians in France to her famous literary salon. This exceptional woman was the first to draft a Code of Women’s Rights.

Chenonceau was transformed into a military hospital during the Great War.

During the Second World War, the Grand Gallery at Chenonceau became the sole point of access to the free zone, and the Menier family helped to smuggle out people fleeing the Nazi tyranny. The US president, Harry Truman, visited the château on his first trip to France.

When we left Chenonceau, we stopped at a Cave and tasted wine. Mikel wasn't thrilled with that stop. We got a few bottles for the road and had a great time learning about the family's wine business.

We drove to Chartres. We had a wonderful B&B apartment. We toured the church and had dinner right across from the cathedral. We went back to the B&B and took a nap. After the nap, we went back to the cathedral and watched the light show that they did ON the church. It was OUTSTANDING. It didn't start until 10:30 pm because it didn't get dark until then. We walked home from another amazing day.

Chartres Cathedral is also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres and was mostly constructed between 1194 and 1220. On August 16, 1944, the Chartres Cathedral was saved from destruction thanks to the American colonel Welborn Barton Griffith Jr., who questioned the order he was given to target the cathedral. The Americans believed that the steeples and towers were being used as an observation post for German artillery.

Griffith, accompanied by a volunteer soldier, instead decided to go and verify whether or not the Germans were using the cathedral. Griffith could see that the cathedral was empty, so he had the cathedral bells ring as a signal for the Americans not to shoot. Upon hearing the bells, the American command rescinded the order to fire. Colonel Griffith died in combat action that same day near Chartres.Read more