Issue No. 21

Inside there are 4,500 works of art,
tapestries, paintings and furnishings. On
cold days some of the fires are lit giving it a
homely feeling so that you can imagine
how it must have been when the court
were in residence. In some of the rooms
there are actors dressed in the costumes of
the day, regaling visitors with stories and
anecdotes.
A new formal garden was inaugurated in
2017 with thousands of trees, plants and
roses and the terrace overlooking it, with
its central great lantern tower is
magnificent. In the grounds, actors on
horse back roam the park evoking a spirit
of the past and its grand heyday.
There’s even a small village of shops,
café’s, a fabulous biscuiterie where you
can taste the local liqueur Chambord, wine
tasting store, a 4* hotel Relais de
Chambord and fabulous restaurant which
overlooks the Chateau. It has to be one of
the most extraordinary views to enjoy lunch
or dinner anywhere in the world.
From the medieval chateaux that were the
norm just decades before, the Chateau of
Chambord ushered in a new style of
building and a new art of living, and things
in France would never be the same again.
Read more about Chambord here.
Just 3 years before that first stone was laid,
63 year old Leonardo da Vinci arrived in
nearby Amboise, invited to stay in the grace
and favour Chateau du Clos Lucé by his
new royal patron, Francis I of France...
WHATS ON 2019: Exhibition: May to
September, International architecture
competition: one aspect focused on the
history of the château, and one on its future,
aiming to virtually transform it into a 21stcentury
utopian ideal. www.chambord.org