Visiting Chenonceau Chateau with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting Chenonceau Château with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Our little wedding party headed out to Chenonceau Château to see the castle with three arches spanning over the Cher River (a tributary of the Loire River) with Italian gardens for strolling.

The château at Chenonceau merited a voyage all by itself as the Michelin Guide described it.  The masses of tour buses there reminded me of Disneyland.  We found parking spaces at the way outer edges of tour bus territory.  They can block you in, if you are not careful.

The attractive setting of Chenonceau made it a favorite of kings’ mistresses and wives, who often fought over it with their fingernails flying.

Thomas Bohier, a finance minister under Charles XIII, Louis XII, and Francis the First, built the château between 1513 and 1521.

Bohier died in 1524, but the financial sins of the father passed on to his son Antoine.  Scrutiny of Thomas’s tax accounts revealed that he owed large sums to the royal treasury.   To pay this debt, Antoine Bohier gave Chenonceau to Francis the First.

When Henri II ascended to the throne in 1547, he gave Chenonceau to his mistress Diane de Poitiers.  Twenty years older than Henri, Diane used her beauty and managerial talent to marginalize the queen, Catherine de Medici (who really was not ugly or naïve – clue – Medici surname).

Henri even went so far as to decorate several of his châteaux with a composed “H” and “C” monogram that really looked like an “H’ and “D” together.

When Henri II was killed by a lance at a tournament in 1559, the regency and revenge of Catherine de Medici began.  Catherine knew that Diane loved Chenonceau and made Diane give it to her despite the fact that Diane owned it.  (This is what life is like under tyranny sometimes. Vive la France Royal.)

Other women owned Chenonceau, but none matched Diane and Catherine for their parties and glamour.  Catherine even had mini Naval battles on the Cher while guests nibbled hors d’oeuvres and drank cocktails in the gardens. 

(Crémant de Saumur probably even reminded Catherine de Medici of Asti Spumante from what is now the Piedmont region of Italy. Asti Spumante is a lightly carbonated, sweet white wine from the region next to Tours.  The people in the Touraine like this wine with pork products like rilletes spead on toast and rillons pork belly cubes or slices.)

“Is it always crowded like this?” I asked Laurent.

“No.  The French like this château for more than its beauty.  Did you know that the Cher River here was the dividing line between Free France and German-occupied France during World War II?” Laurent asked.

“No, but that makes this château even more interesting,” I said.

That kind of information is important to know, because wars determine which language you will speak, what kind of legal system your country will have, what kind of money you will use, what kind of water you will drink, and what languages children will have to speak and learn subjects in at school. 

When Germany occupied France during several wars, French children had to learn all their subjects in German. 

So, the French still want people to speak French even though they are probably fluent in Italian (especially in the Touraine), Spanish, and German.  (The Germans have slow, steady highly reliable financial products.  Clue – utilities and railroads in Monopoly).

Enough of exploring the land of Valois castles for today!

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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