And we came back to mighty beautiful Chambord ! It has been said that the stretch of land on both sides of the Loire river passing by several famous towns for its castles was referred to as the valley of the kings. Well Chambord is the king of the valley! Chambord is a small village with a huge castle and even bigger forest in dept Loir-et- Cher,no 41 of the Centre-Val de Loire region of my belle France. As usual , I have written plenty but never enough when you consider the magnificent of Chambord. Therefore, here is my take on the Domaine National de Chambord ,part V !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The village of Chambord is famous for its castle and its fully enclosed park, a national hunting reserve where presidential hunts once took place. The village and the entire territory are the property of the French State, administered in the form of a public industrial and commercial establishment called the Domaine national de Chambord.
The Molière’s Theatre tell the story first of one significant event in the history of Chambord, it is the premiere of the famous comedy-ballet Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, given for Louis XIV by the Palais-Royal troupe in 1670, a year after the creation, at the same venue, of Monsieur de Pourceaugnac. The plot of the new play was inspired by the recent reception of a Turkish embassy at Versailles. It was commissioned from Molière by the king himself and set to music by Lully. In that October of 1670, the sovereign came to Chambord to “spend the rest of the fine season in the entertainment that such a pleasant place can offer.” . A performance hall was specially set up in one of the vestibules of the keep, on the 1st floor: the stage faced the grand staircase while the musicians and then the spectators were seated in front. The premiere of Molière’s new play took place on the evening of October 14th. It received a reserved reception from the sovereign. Fortunately, the second performance given a few days later was a success, and Louis XIV declared: “Truly, Molière, you have never done anything that has entertained me more, and your play is excellent.” Its success has never waned. To commemorate this event, set designer Jacques Garcia wanted to recreate a small court theater on the very spot where the play was performed 350 years earlier. Through this evocation, Chambord invites its visitors to sit and admire the stage, as if a new performance were about to begin.
The former chapel of Louis XIV ,and later Theatre of the Maréchal de Saxe, The north vaulted room was converted in the 17C into a temporary chapel for Louis XIV and his court, pending the completion of the château’s great chapel. Then, in 1750, Marshal Saxe transformed the space into a sumptuous society theater to entertain his guests. In the evenings, light and entertaining plays by Marivaux or commedia dell’arte were performed here, performed by his own troupe. A large stage, with its orchestra, was set up on the window side. The spectators then took their seats in the stalls or in wooden side boxes. Finally, a majestic gallery crowned by a canopy was built for the Marshal and his most notable guests in front of the staircase. Many vestiges of the theater are still visible on the vault, walls, or window pillars with holes, hooks, hollowed out or painted coffers, leveled chimney, plaster, etc. Despite the considerable expense, the Marshal was only able to enjoy his theater for a few months before his death. The last textile and wooden elements were sold during the French revolution. On the second floor, the Greek cross room is covered with ample vaults with a slightly flattened, basket-handle profile. Despite their imposing dimensions, they remain airy and, moreover, the whiteness of the tuffeau stone helps to diffuse a beautiful luminosity here. Crafted in the Italian style in hundreds of square coffers, like ancient triumphal arches, they glorify François I by multiplying the royal emblem. The salamander, a family heirloom of the Valois-Angoulême, is the animal whose symbolic meaning is linked to that of fire, as devastating as it is benevolent. The royal motto, “nutrisco et extinguo” (“I feed the good fire, I extinguish, the bad fire ”), is clearly illustrated here: sometimes the salamander spits drops of water to extinguish the fire surrounding it, sometimes it feeds on the flames. The all-powerful king thus holds power over Good and Evil. The royal monogram “F” is surrounded by the knotted cord of the Franciscans. Because of his baptismal name, Francis 1er willingly places himself under the protection of his patron saint, Francis of Assisi, to whom he refers. The state of the vaults may be surprising: because they support the four terraces located just above, This is ,also ,part of the room of the theater of Maréchal de Saxe. 
The Chapel of the Château de Chambord located in the west tower on the first floor. Begun under François I, it was only completed under Louis XIV, by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. The statue, offered by its author to the Count of Chambord, commemorates the valiant act of Elisabeth of France, (Madame Elizabeth) younger sister of Louis XVI, during the French revolution. On June 20, 1792, at the Château des Tuileries (was demolished), invaded by rioters, she tried in vain to pass herself off as Marie-Antoinette by saying: “I am the Queen.” Finally imprisoned like the royal couple, she died by guillotine in 1794. This altar, commissioned by the Count of Chambord, was created by reusing an old altar stone and tabernacle. It is decorated with the Chrism, or “monogram of Christ”, formed from the Greek capitals X (chi) and P (rho), here framed by the letters a (alpha) and ω (omega) symbolizing the beginning and the end. The two armchairs and their “prie-Dieu” with cushions on the kneeler, are upholstered in tapestries made by Legitimist ladies in homage to the Count of Chambord. They are thus decorated with the crowned figures of Henri de Bourbon, Count of Chambord,(Duke of Bordeaux,and Henri V)), and Maria Theresa of Modena, his wife.
The external staircase of the chapel wing ,This simple spiral staircase, that is to say, consisting of a single flight of steps, serves all levels of the chapel wing from the ground floor to the attic, but also the passageway connecting the keep to the wing. Begun at the end of the reign of Francis I at around 1545, it remained unfinished at the death of the king. Like the adjoining wing and gallery, its construction continued during the reign of Henry II but was not completed until the following century (1684-1686). The ornamentation of the staircase adapted to the rhythm of the construction: on the ground floor and first floor, bases and capitals are sculpted with salamanders, emblems of Francis I, while the second floor is decorated with “H” and crescent moons in reference to King Henry II. As for the summit, it remained unfinished due to the definitive interruption of the construction site. Thus, the blocks left waiting to be sculpted were supposed to take the form of terms, human figures made up of the head and bust, as on the staircase of the royal wing.
More than a decade after the temporary exhibition Hostages of War. Chambord 1939-1945, presented at the château in 2009-2010, the Domaine National de Chambord wished to include in the tour circuit, at the level of the famous terraces, four rooms which explain how it participated in the protection of the masterpieces of French museums during WWII. Thanks to precious archival documents completed over the years, photographs from French and German photographic collections, two short documentaries and an immersive scenography, these spaces highlight the question of art in Nazi policy, the protection of works from the National Museums and certain private collections from their evacuation to their return, as well as the daily life of Chambord –château and village until the dramatic days of August 21 and 22, 1944. Organized into nine themes, with a scenography allowing you to skim over them or delve deeper into them thanks to richly illustrated bilingual (French and English) leaflets, as well as a focus on the fate of two major works from the Louvre , the Mona Lisa and The Raft of the Medusa, this permanent exhibition for all audiences highlights different, rather unknown, facets of life in the castle and the village during this troubled period, but also pays a legitimate tribute to all those people in the shadows who, from from the director of the National Museums to the often war-disabled guards, from residents to resistance fighters, they watched over “the beauty of the world”. Thank you,
The official Domaine National of Chambord on the castle: https://www.chambord.org/en/discovering/the-castle-visit/
The local Blois-Chambord tourist office on the castle: https://www.bloischambord.co.uk/discover-the-destination/the-loire-valley-castles/chateau-de-chambord/
The Loire Valley Centre Val de Loire region tourist office on the domaine de Chambord : https://www.loirevalley-france.co.uk/discover/loire-chateaux/national-domain-chambord/
There you go folks, I say the king of the valley of the kings, Chambord, undescribable. A must to visit while in France. We had come back, and will again. We were there even during Christmas magical, and concerts awesome. Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Domaine National de Chambord ,part V !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels , good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 