Château Royal de Blois
Seven kings and ten queens lived at this place. This Château is a synthesis of all Loire Châteaux. Its four sides are all different. On the walls you can read the history of French architecture from Louis IV to Louis XII. The Château is also the scene of the drama of Blois: the assassination of the Duke de Guise instigated by Katharina de Medici because she thought him becoming too powerful: high point of the religious wars between the Catholics and Protestants which ravaged France in the second half of the sixteenth century. This château is interesting to visit to get an idea on court etiquette, design in
Renaissance times because people actually lived here.
Lonely Planet
Seven French kings lived in Blois' royal château, whose four grand wings were built during four distinct periods in French architecture: Gothic (13th century), Flamboyant Gothic (1498–1501), early Renaissance (1515–20) and classical (1630s). You can easily spend a half-day immersing yourself in the château's dramatic and bloody history and its extraordinary architecture.
The most famous part of the Gothic wing is the richly painted Hall of the States-General, from the 13th century. Along one wall, interactive screens illustrate the development of the château over the centuries.
In the Renaissance wing you'll find the extraordinary spiral loggia staircase, decorated with fierce salamanders and curly Fs, heraldic symbols of François I. Other highlights include the Queen's Bedchamber, in which Catherine de Médicis (Henri II’s machiavellian wife) died in 1589, and the King’s Bedchamber, setting for one of the bloodiest episodes in the château’s history. In 1588 Henri III had his arch-rival, Duke Henri I de Guise, murdered by royal bodyguards (the king is said to have hidden behind a tapestry while the dastardly deed was done). He had the duke’s brother, the Cardinal de Guise, killed the next day. The bloodletting of the Wars of Religion continued when Henri III himself was murdered just eight months later by a vengeful monk. Dramatic and very graphic oil paintings illustrate these gruesome events next door in the Council Room.
Arriving
Tour
Leaving
Dinner at L'Océanide (Bib Gourmand Michelin) in Nantes - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner at L'Instinct Gourmand in Nantes, with Owner/ Chef Sylvain le Bras - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Guided Tour of Old Town Nantes - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner at Iconic Brasserie La Cigale in Nantes - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour, Tasting and Light Lunch at Vignobles Günther Chéreau, Château du Coing, in Saint Fiacre-sur-Maine, with Owner Véronique Günther-Chéreau - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Two Domaines under one Roof: Visit at Domaine Gadais Père et Fils and Domaine de la Combe/ Pierre-Henri Gadais in Saint Fiacre-sur-Maine, Muscadet Sévre et Maine, Pays Nantais, with Owner/ Winemaker Christoph Gadais - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner at Restaurant Les Petits Près of Chef Samuel Albert (Top Chef France 2019) in Angers - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour and Tasting at Château d’Épiré, AOP Savennières, Anjou, with Owner/ Winemaker Paul Bizard - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour, Barrel Tasting and Salon Tasting at Château des Vaults, Domaine du Closel in Savennière, Anjou, with Owner/ winemaker Evelyne de Pontbriand - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour and Tasting at Domäne Vincendeau in Rochefort-sur-Loire, Anjou, with Owner/ Winemaker Liv Vincendeau - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Wine Tasting with a Light Lunch at Domaine de la Soucherie in Beaulieu-sur-Layon, Anjou - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner at Restaurant L’Essentiel, Michelin-listed and Nestled at the Foot of Saumur’s Fairy-tale Castle - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Guided Visit at the UNESCO-classified L’ Abbey Royale de Fontevraud in Fontevraud - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch in the Courtyard of Saumur's Fairy-tale Castle Château de Saumur - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting, Cellar Tour and Vineyard Tour at Domaine des Roches Neuves in Varrains, Anjou, with Next Generation Owner/ Winemaker Louis Germain and Agathe Germain - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Maison Bouvet-Ladubay in Saumur, with Owner Juliette Monmousseau - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Cave M. Plouzeau in Chinon, Touraine, with Owner/ Winemaker Marc Plouzeau his Château de la Bonneliére Wines - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
At Domaine Bouchardière in Cravant les Côteaux, Touraine: Tasting the Wines of Domaine Bouchardière and Domaine de la Haut Olive, Cravant les Coteaux, Chinon and Panzoult, Touraine - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Menu
du Jour Lunch at Bar-Restaurant Le Bistrot du Marché of Hotel Le Lion
d'Or in the Center of Chinon - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine François Cazin, Le Petit Chambord, in Cheverney, Touraine, with François Cazin - Loire Valley
2024 by ombiasy WineTours
3-course "Bistronomique" Dinner at
Restaurant Brut Maison de Cuisine in Blois, with Owner/ Chef Adrien
Delafoy - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Brazilier in Thoré-la-Rochette, Côteaux Vendômois, Touraine, with Owner/ Winemaker Benoît Brazilier - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
3-course Lunch at Le Moulin du Loir in Vendôme - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Visit of Château de Chambord: "An Epitome of what Human Art can Produce" said Charles V. (Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nations) - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Guided Tour of Château Royal de Blois, where 7 Kings and 10 Queens lived - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Sunday Lunch at Restaurant La Croix Blanche (Bib Gourmand Michelin), with Owner/ Chef Jean-François Beauduin - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Guided Visit of Château du Clos Lucé and the Leonardo-da-Vinci Park in Amboise - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner, Overnight-stay and Breakfast at Château de Pray in Amboise - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours.
Visit at Denis Meunier in Vernou-sur-Brenne, Touraine - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Visit at Domaine des Aubuisières, Bernard Fouquet, in Vouvray, Touraine - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Guided Visit of Château Chenonceau - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner and Overnight-stay at Auberge du Bon Laboureur in Chenonceau - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard
Walk, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Pellé in Morogues,
Menetou-Salon, with the Export Manager Pauline Guillot - Loire Valley
2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch at Restaurant Fluteau in Morogues - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar
Tour and Extensive Tasting at at Domaine Alphons Mellot in Sancerre,
with Alphons Mellot - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar
Tour and Tasting at Domaine de Vrillères, SCEA in Sury-en-Vaux,
Sancerre, with Kevin Lauverjat - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar
Tour and Tasting at Domaine Tinel-Blondelet in Pouilly-sur-Loire, with
Marlène and Annick Tinel - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch at Restaurant/ Affineur Romain Dubois in Chavignol, with Gilles Dubois - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar Tour, Vineyard Tour and Tasting at Domaine Henri Bourgeois in Chavignol - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Wine-pairing Dinner at Le Clos du Maréchal with the Wines of Vignobles Berthier, with the Owner/ Winemaker Clément Berthier and the Chef/ Owner Nathanael Fromant - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Last Meal of the Tour: At La Coupole in Paris - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours