France June 2016 - Blois

Leaving Loches, we headed for Blois, about an hour's drive.   Blois was a decent size city on the north side of the Loire River.   We parked the car in front of an outside cafe, had a nice lunch, then walked the short distance to the Chateau Royal de Blois.   Blois was once the center of France when Louis XII became King in 1498.

Louis XII and his successor, Francois I, built most of what we would see today, their home during their reigns.   Per Ira Caro: "Louis XII was the first King of France to be unchallenged by any feudal lord.  The defensive architecture is gone at the Chateau of Blois, replaced by one reflecting the artistic changes that had been taking place in Italy for over three centuries as well as Blois's change from a residence of a warring feudal lord to that of a king with national power and international interests.  The three separate and distinct wings illustrate the evolution of the 16th century.  The chateau at Blois is the ideal castle to see the transformation that tookplace in 16th century France, when its king, no longer threatened by internal war, modernized his defensive fortress into a palace befitting a king."

The section to the right looks like a church but was actually the chateau's most important meeting room.

Lynnette poses in front of the Palace.
   
Over the entrance was this intricate statue of King Louis XII.  (Born 1462, Reign 1498 - 1515)
   

Inside, around the big courtyard, are three wings, each representing the distinctive era in which they were built.

Here, at center and right are the medieval parts of the chateau built by Louis XII.  It is the first wing.

 
   
While work was underway on Chambord (which we will see tomorrow), Francois I (Born 1494, Reign  1515 - 1547), added the elaborate Renaissance wing to the left, which is centered on a protruding spiral staircase.   This is the second wing.
   
A better look ata Francois I's Renaissance wing.  This wing was where most of the exhibit rooms were.
   
Inside the meeting room that looks like a church, known as the Hall of the Estates-General.  This is the oldest surviving part of the chateau (predating Louis and Francois), where the Estates-General met twice to deliberate who would inherit the throne from Henry III, who had no male heir.  Notice the King's chair on the right.
   
This model shows how they built the arched ceiling of this building.
   
Gaston d'Orleans (1608 - 1660), inherited the Palace in the 1600s, demolished an existing church, and built this Neoclassical structure for the third wing.
   
A model of the Palace looking from the outside at Francois I's Renaissance wing with the meeting room to its left.
   

The Loire River is visible on the other side of those buildings.

 
   

The Church of St. Nicholas, which dates from the 12th century.

Blois was heavily bombed in World War II but fortunately the Palace and Church were not heavily damaged.
   
In the royal apartments of Francois I.  This room had the King's throne with tapestries covering the walls.
   
A typical street in Blois.
   
 
   
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