Chinon - 6 May 2022

Friday, 6 May 2022 - Chinon

You can click on any of the small photos to see them full size then go back.

There’s some drone photos I took the next morning at the end.

Last night caught up with another episode of The Split. Isn’t it great when programs make your own life seem so ordinary and settled!

Least said about the quality of my sleep the better - suffice to say come early morning I could sleep, but should have been getting up so that I’m really tired tonight!

By 9am all the other mohos had gone. One of them was a young German couple with a baby - that must be such hard work!

Went across the carpark to service Dave. Bit rubbish in a way - the drain was on a slope, and we were surprised we had to hand fill another three containers of water. I know I cleaned out the shower today, but didn’t use that much water!

Anyway, total drive for Tintin today about 20 minutes - he feels cheated! We stopped off at a SuperU, primarily for Greek yogurt, but spent €70! I suppose we did buy some Calvados (half the price here for the Pere Magloire that I was going to buy at home!) and more rum and cider - well - can’t run out can we! And of course, the obligatory Millefeuilles - it’s been a while - and yes - delicious!

We’re parked up just above Chinon. Decided that we hadn’t been here before!

A bit of a boring blog for those who don’t like history, as we’ve just visited the château today. Was €21 admission for the two of us.  Much better value than Fontevraud Abbey! However we were given a Histopad which we’d never used before. Basically, like an iPad with gps, then because there’s a lot of building and ‘stuff’ inside missing, you use your gizmo to scan at certain places, then you can 360° around the room, and get lots of information. Not sure it was that brilliant, prefer a good old map!

We were there for 4 hours in the end. We’d seen everywhere, and then there was a 40 minute talk in English with Anne-Marie. We were her first English speaking visitors this year! Well, 80 minutes later, she finally left! Have we learnt much? Well, she loves her history, and I think that as English, we’re taught the same history a little different than the French!

Warning - history bit mainly copied from Francethisway -

“Chateau Chinon is a large castle that dominates the town of Chinon and extends along a raised plateau above the river Vienne, in France's Loire Valley.

The castle at Chinon is rich in history, and dates back more than 1000 years, at which time the original castle was built on the site of an even earlier Gallo-Roman fort. The castle also played a key role in several important moments in French history, adding to the interest of a visit.

Unlike many of the chateaux in the Loire valley, the castle at Chinon was not rebuilt in the renaissance and preserves many of its medieval characteristics including extensive defensive walls.

History of Chateau Chinon

The English King Henry II built much of Chinon castle in the 12th century to serve as an important regional control centre: he was also the Count of Anjou. Including the defensive walls it is a very extensive building, almost 500 metres long and 100 metres wide, with the interior divided into three parts: the Fort Saint-Georges, the Chateau de Milieu and the Fort du Coudray.

The Fort de Coudray was further enhanced in the 13th century with the addition of a cylindrical keep after a long siege by French King Philippe Auguste had regained the territory for the French.

Key historical events in Chinon Caste include:

• It is thought that Richard the Lionheart died in Chinon castle in 1199.
• In 1308, Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was held prisoner in the castle during the trials of the templars
• On March 8, 1429 Joan of Arc came here to persuade Charles VII that it was possible to change the fortunes in favour of the French during the Hundred Years War. The meeting with Joan of Arc at the castle is considered to be the turning point in the fortunes of France in medieval times: the meeting resulted in the King retaking Orléans and subsequently removing the English from France.

In the 16th century the castle was used as a prison but was then abandoned, a state that was to last for two hundred years. The revival in the fortunes of Chateau Chinon started with Napoleon III, who renovated part of the castle, and its subsequent recognition as a French historic monument in 1840.

The transformation continued in the 20th century as the importance of the castle was recognised - it is now in the control of Chinon town and a major regional visitor attraction, although we can only try to imagine what the castle was like at in its heyday, since a great deal of the original castle buildings are no longer standing.”

They think that the graffiti on the walls was from the last Knights of the Templar. The scroll has been translated from Latin, and you can turn the handle for the French translation. It was from the Pope, statements in order to get the people released. The scroll mysteriously went missing - but was found by a journalist in 2000 - too late for the Templars.

We had wanted to visit the actual town - but that will have to wait until tomorrow!

It’s been much warmer today - dare I say - too hot in the sun. Was up to 27° inside Dave when we got back late afternoon. In the mornings he’s only about 13/14° - quite a difference!

Have no idea yet where we’ll move onto tomorrow, but the weekend looms - so probably somewhere away from people!

Rod, our post about Saumur brought back good memories about when you went with Mum a couple of times - hope you went here too!