The Loire Valley, filled with charming towns and resplendent Chateaux, was once the playground of the French nobility, with its beautiful scenery and game rich forests. It has been fought over, visited, and admired for hundreds of years.

Orleans

Orleans began as a Celto-Roman town named Genabun. The town is most famous for being the site of a battle in the Hundred Years War when Joan of Arc broke the English siege in 1429. Orleans was the venue of a massacre of Huguenot Protestants during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572.

The centerpiece of Orleans is the Cathédrale Sainte-Croix, a gothic style church that is actually the fifth by the name to occupy the site, started in the 17th Century and completed on May 8, 1829, the four hundred anniversary of the delivery of Orleans by Joan of Arc. Joan's pedestal on an altar is carved with scenes from her life. The 19th century stained glass windows tell the rest of the story. Also worth a visit is the Maison de Jeanne d'Arc, a reconstruction of the house where Joan of Arc stayed during the campaign to lift the siege of the city. The museum contains exhibits about her life, as well as costumes and weapons of her time. There are several dioramas which recount the major episodes in Joan's life, from the audience with the dauphin, later King Charles VII, at Chinon to the coronation at Reims, her seizure at Compiègne, and the stake at Rouen. Finally the Musee des Beaux-Art is primarily a picture gallery of French and some Dutch and Flemish works from the 16th to the late 19th centuries. Some of the works once hung in Cardinal Richelieu's château. The collection includes busts by Pigalle and a fine array of portraits, including one of Mme de Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV. Among non-French works, the undisputed star is a lovely Velásquez commemorating the Apostle St. Thomas.

Tours

The name of the city comes from the ancient Gallic tribe called the Turones. In Roman times it was known as Turonensis. Tours was a medieval center of learning and the site of the victory of Charles Martel over a Moslem invasion that likely saved France from Islamic rule. Tours was a center of a silk weaving industry starting in the 15th Century. It was the temporary seat of the French government after the Prussian capture of Paris in 1870. Tours is the birthplace of the famous French writer, Balzac.

The mostly gothic style Saint-Gatien Cathedral was begun in 1170 to replace a church that was destroyed in a battle between Henry II of England and Louis VII of France. Among the parts of the cathedral are the chancel with a fine collection of 12 Century stained -glass windows, the flamboyant façade being among the region's most prestigious, displaying its opulent decoration, the 14th-16th Century nave, the grave of Charles VIII’s and Anne of Brittany's children, and a beautiful work coming from the school of the sculptor Michel Colombe. One can also stroll some of the medieval streets and visit the Saint-Pierre-le-Puellier garden where there are some Gallo-Roman ruins.

Angers

The first sign of human presence on the site of Angers is a stone tool dated back to 400,000 B.C. The earliest known inhabitants were the Andecavi, a Galic tribe that was overrun by the Romans, who called the town Juliomagus.Angers was once the capital of the historic province of Anjou. It became part of the Angevin empire of the Plantagenet Kings of England. During this time, the Hospital of Saint-Jean was built in Angers by King Henry II of England. The edifice still stands to this day, now housing an important museum. In 1204, Angers was conquered by King Philippe II. The Huguenots took it in 1585, and the Vendean royalists were repulsed nearby in 1793. Till the Revolution, Angers was the seat of a celebrated university founded in the 14th century.

The most famous attraction in Angers is the massive, stone edifice of Chateau d’Angers. It has a perimeter of almost a kilometer and seventeen towers. The Chateau is the home of a 14th Century tapestry depicting the Book of Revelations called the Tapestry of the Apocalypse. A stroll about the towers and in the garden is recommended as well. The Cathedrale St-Maurice is a 12th century edifice with impressive twin spires. It sits atop a wide staircase often referred to by the same name as the Cathedral. It towers over all else around and contains some beautiful stained glass windows.

Loire Valley Chateaux

The Loire Valley is best known for its numerous Chateaux. Half fortresses, half pleasure palaces, they dot the countryside. Here are a few of the best, listed west to east.

Chateau de Samur is the medieval castle of Dukes of Anjou houses museums on decorative arts and horse-riding. Chinon was built by Henry II and was his favorite residence on the continent. It was also the place where Joan of Arc first recognized the Dauphin among hundreds of courtiers as the true heir to France. The Chateau d’Usse is believed to have inspired the story of Sleeping Beauty. Villandry is a renaissance jewel that overlooks perfect formal gardens. Loches is well known for having the deepest dungeons of any chateau in the Loire Valley. Chenonceau was the favorite residence of Catherine de Medici and was where Mary Queen of Scots married her son Francis II. Amboise started as a home to the Dukes of Anjou and then became a royal residence. Blois was another royal castle in the early 16th Century, having been transformed from a stark fortress into a beautiful gay and luminous castle. Cheverny is said to have invented the French Style in 1630-1640. .Château de Cheverny’s design was inspired by the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. Chambord was a favorite retreat of Louis XIV. Begun in the early 16th Century, it seems to have been influenced by Leonardo de Vinci who lived in France at the time.

Visiting the Loire

The Loire Valley is about two hours away by road and less time by rail from Paris. One should devote several days to visiting the area, to get the full extent of the treasures it has to offer.