Paris1972-Versailles2003

This is an enchanting castle with lots of history other than the castle itself. One particular one we love for more than the castle but for Tintin and the hunting dogs is Cheverny It is located in the department of Loir et Cher No 41 in the region Centre-Val-de-Loire, dans the forest abounding the Sologne.

Another fairy tale castle in the valley of the kings or Loire valley.  It is very interesting because its original furniture, and the connection to one of the all time best cartoonist in Europe, Hergé and the character Tintin, which used this castle as the series castle Moulinsart. To give you a visual tour at the Chateau de Cheverny, you begin by looking at the exterior architecture, especially the rear part going into the gardens, style Louis XIII. However, the front of the castle is what inspired Hergé for his Chateau de Moulinsart fame in the Tintin series, it is all in sculpture stone construction.

Here then are the gardens a la Française or French garden style; you have the Orangerie of 18C construction for conventions and meetings now but during WWII it housed/hided  many objects of arts such as the Mona Lisa painting now at the Louvre.  You go in the parc, it is an ocean of lawns all over perfectly kept linking it with the garden a la Anglaise or English style planted with huge trees.  Here you past by the dogs cages or Chenils  as the castle is one of the high points of hunting, you can see the dogs wonderful,and see the feeding of them, great!  You move on to the Potager, in front of the hunting room with fruits, wine grapes,and vegetables;lovely. And dont forget the Communs, this  is by the entrance to the castle and house the administration but they are from the Renaissance period.

You go in by the Salle à Manger or dining room, from the 19C now but decoration of the 17C, with leather ceilings! and a bust of king Henri IV, you see on the wall Cervantes Don Quijotes with very impressive arms of the family,and a dining table for 30 seatings. Then you take the stairs, or l’Escalier d’Honneur, with a renaissance influence richly decorated in white stone and style Louis XIII, and hunting heads in wood. Going up to the appartements Privés or private apartments, that were occupied as little back as 1985. Here you have the Chambre jaune or birth bedroom, then the Petit Boudoir Rouge, small ladies room, Chambre d’enfants with the first horse models of the Napoleon III era as well as portraits of the owner family. The chambre des Mariés with the wedding clothing of the current owners including a bathtub of the 19C, the Salle à manger familiale is the place where the family ate and decorated as if it is waiting for guests; and the Petit Salon, with miniature potraits of the owner family in a glass cabinet.

The Salle d’Armes ,the biggest in the castle with decoration of origin from the 17C, a great wooden chimney and tapestries of Gobelins of the 17C showing events of the war of Troy in Greece. It has a collection of weapons from the 15C to 17C, lots of swords, arquebuses, and vaults of travels from the 17C. It has a covering thread in leather of Cordoba with the arms of France and Navarra that once belongs to king Henri IV and weights 70 kg (about 154 pounds). You go into the Chambre du Roi or king bedroom, a luxurious room! with decoration of the greatest adventures of romance, painting of Persia and Andromeda, 30 scenes of the tragic loves of Théagéne and Chariclée (French names sorry). 6 tapestries from the 17C with work of Ulyses hero of Odyssée. A huge bed of 2 meters by 1,60 meters ( 6.60x 5.3 ft) and chairs from Louis XIII, and sofas of Louis XIV with tapestries of Aubusson. You go to the small Vestibule with a nice Flanders tapestry of the 17C to go into the Grand Salon, the work of the owner for over 150 years with the best collection in the castle, portraits of the family, including the parents of Henri IV as well as the folks link to the castle such as Louis XII and queen Anne of Austria etc. Painting of Ferdinand I brother and successor of emperor Charles V, the furniture from the 17C and 18C and other wonders of the time to see, its just overpowering.

You continue the visit of the castle into the Galerie, many paintings of the family from great masters of the 17C and an original document signed by General George Washington USA, talking about one of the ancestors of the current owner that fought alongside Lafayette and Rochambeau during the war of Independance of the United States! ou go thru the Petit Salon, more family portraits alongside a chimney as well as period furniture.  This takes you to the Library or Bibliothéque with over 2000 ancient books done in different leathers with furniture from the Premier Empire and office desk signed by Jacob, the purveyor of them to Napoleon Ier.  You come now to the end into the Salon des Tapisseries, with 5 tapestries of Flanders from the 17C huge tapestries! with different motifs as well as furniture from Louis XIV and Louis XV, and a huge clock from the 18C still marking time as hours,minutes,seconds, day, date, and phases of the moon.

The official Château de Cheverny: https://www.chateau-cheverny.fr/en/

There you go folks, another beautiful historical castle in the wonderful Loire Valley of my belle France. Always amazing things to see and Cheverny should be on the top list of any, Enjoy Cheverny  and Tintin ; good for the whole family.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

One of the best fairy tail castles of the valley of the kings or Loire is Cheverny. It has to rank as one of our favorites over the years. We were there long ago with the whole gang and now came back missing our dear women mom and wife have passed away. It was a memorable strange visit with the boys, Dad Elio and our dog Rex. We came here essentially to find ourselves with the loving good memories of visiting the kennel and its hunting dogs. Let me tell you a bit more on it; hope you enjoy it as I!!!

My maternal grandfather Machingo as we called him was a hunter and had dogs. I remember still going out with him in his Jeep! Maybe that is why my love affair with dogs has continue, and still have my loving nice dog Rex a border collier/labrador breed or borador!!! 

The kennels of Cheverny castle date from 1850 and are home to around a hundred Anglo-French tricolor dogs, from a cross between English Fox Hound and French Poitevins.

The Château de Cheverny has the daily feeding at 17h which was not time for us to see it this time but did saw the dogs. This is the time of day when visitors can participate in the meal of the Cheverny pack who devoured in half an hour!

The dogs have more than 2000 m2 of meadow (behind the bouquetier vegetable garden) to frolic in. Accustomed to living together in packs, they particularly appreciate the proximity of their fellows and often stay very close to each other. They eat between 400 grams and 1 kilo each day (depending on the time of year). They are washed and disinfected daily; the teams of the castle as well as a veterinarian ensure the well-being of the dogs throughout the year. Each year, around twenty puppies are born at the Cheverny castle, The baptism of puppies takes place once a year in May of the year following their birth. Do not hesitate to participate, by giving a name to one of the puppies of the Cheverny pack! You have until May 2023 to participate with given a name from the letter “T”;go ahead at the castle webpage.

The official Château de Cheverny on the kennel: https://www.chateau-cheverny.fr/en/discover-the-estate/the-kennels.html

For info, the Valley of the Loire Loir et Cher dept 41 tourist office on Cheverny: https://www.val-de-loire-41.com/fiches/chateau-de-cheverny/

There you go folks, figure need to put this one separate from the castle per se.  A wonderful kennel and loving hunting dogs so cute we love it. All in the beautiful Château de Cheverny given us lots of good memorable moments we enjoy remembering of it. Again, hope you enjoy too ,and get out a memorable moment in your visit as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

As we continue our road warrior visit of the Loire valley and its castles, wines, food, monuments I take you back to Cheverny. We have been here before, see post, but many years ago. It took me great strength to be back with the rest of my family, my 3 boys, my Dad, and our dog Rex; sadly all boys this time. Cheverny is a memorable spot and there will be more to come. For now, enjoy Cheverny as I do.

The town of Cheverny is located in the department of Loir-et-Cher, 41 in the Centre-Val de Loire region. The architectural heritage of the town includes three buildings included in the inventory of historical monuments: the castle of Cheverny (see post), the castle of Troussay, and the Church of Saint-Étienne.  Cheverny is about 14 kmfrom Blois , and only 1 km from Cour-Cheverny (see post).  The town of Cheverny is located in the area of ​​the protected designation of origin (AOP) of four products: a cheese (Selles-sur-Cher) and three wines Cheverny, Cour-Cheverny and Crémant- de-Loire.

The Hurault de Vibraye family who have owned Château de Cheverny (see posts) for more than six centuries, although not consecutive (the castle was seized by the King in the 16C). The Château de Troussay. The Château du Breuil – now a Hotel-Restaurant. The Saint-Étienne Church, built in the 12C, was joined in the 16C by a wooden porch and a side aisle between the bell tower and a seigneurial chapel.  The Cheverny forest, with an area of ​​2,502 ha; it extends over 4 towns, Cheverny, Cour-Cheverny, Contres and Fontaines-en-Sologne. The Jazzin’Cheverny festival is a jazz music festival. It has been held every year since 2008 within the walls of the Château de Cheverny.

I like to tell you more about the St Stephens’ Church.

The Church Saint Etienne is a small 12C parish church, firstly restored in the 16C. The exterior of the church has a remarkable covered gallery which partly surrounds the church and shelters, with its gray slate roof, the entrance to the magnificently flowered church.

The current church was built in the 12C on the site of an old pre-Romanesque church, You see the masonry of the base of the bell tower and especially a small blocked bay clearly visible in the part of the facade, in fact, as the remains of pre-Romanesque constructions. The portal is from the 12C, semicircular, adorned with sawtooths, rafters and a torus. The bell tower also seems to be from the same period, at least in its first part. Originally, most churches had only one nave with a mud vault with exposed beams and punches.

It was in the 16C, as towns developed around royal towns and the number of parishioners increased,that many churches were transformed and enlarged.  It was also at this time that a stately chapel was built on the side of the choir, on the site of the current sacristy. During the French revolution, the Convention ordered, in May 1792, the systematic destruction of all the symbols of the Ancien Régime(monarchy), and it was in 1793 that the seigneurial chapel of Cheverny was destroyed, the funeral plaques and the graves broken and the scattered bones. It was not until 1825, after the return of the castle to the family, that Anne-Victor Hurault gathered the scattered pieces of the funeral plaques and had them placed around the chapel of the Virgin where they are still today (on the right of the choir,on the aisle).

In the last months of the 19C, major works appeared necessary. They concern the wall and the roof of the nave. Among the last major works carried out on the church were the repair of the frame and the replacement of the slates of the bell tower.  It was in November 1976 and early 1977 that the work was carried out.

The town of Cheverny on its heritage : https://mairie-cheverny.com/cheverny/le-village/

The Blois Chambord tourist office on Cheverny : https://www.bloischambord.com/planifier/nos-villes-villages/nos-villes-villages/cheverny-1538108

And even thus it was closed, for the family memories we stopped by and took this another picture of Ristorante Le Pinocchio (see post) 1 Rue du Chêne des Dames, Cheverny. We ate here many years ago, with my dear late wife Martine and it was a must stop. Picture for the memories of always.

There you go folks, another memorable visit to wonderful little Cheverny, part of the valley of the kings and rightfully royal and grand indeed. Hope you enjoy the post on a bit more on Cheverny than the famous castle.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!