When Mr Tart and I went to the Loire Valley castle hunting I knew that I definitely wanted to visit Chenonceau. It's one of the castles that really said Loire to me as it seems to be one that's often used to illustrate the area.

SOME HISTORY:

Chateau de Chenonceau was originally a fortified castle built in the 1430s. In the early 1500s the castle was purchased by Thomas Bohier who demolished the fortified castle (apart from one tower) and began the building we see today. Unfortunately for Bohier his castle was seized by Francois I after Bohier's son failed to pay a debt. Francois's son Henry II then gave the castle to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Diane extended the castle to include an arched bridge across the river. When Henry II died (a splinter from a joust went into his eye and he died from the infection - yuk!) his wife, the formidable Catherine de Medici, took the palace from Diane (but did give her Chateau Chaumont as an exchange!). Catherine added a long gallery over Diane's bridge. The castle was then passed to Henry III's wife, Louise de Lorraine, Gabrielle d'Estrees and then to her son by Henry, Cesar of Vendome. The Castle is now in private hands but is open to the public.

LOCATION:

Chateau de Chenonceau is in the village of Chenonceau. It is 34km from Tours which was where we were staying. It is on the D40. There is plenty of parking at the castle and it is free.

OPENING HOURS AND PRICES:

The opening hours vary depending on the time of year that you visit so it's a good idea to check the website. We went in August when the castle is open from 9am until 8pm. The latest it opens is 9.30 and the earliest it closes is 5pm. It is open every day of the year.

The castle costs Euro10 for adults and Euro8 for children and students. If you choose to get the audio guide the price goes up to Euro14 for adults and Euro12 for children and students, but we chose not to have these.

EXPERIENCE:

Once we'd parked we walked to the ticket booth. It's about a 10 minute walk from car park to castle. The ticket office was also the shop. There was a queue for the tickets but you can also get them from an automatic machine so we got ours from there. The shop had a good mix of tourist fare and good history stuff (a lot of which I would have been tempted by if it hadn't been in French!).

The ticket gets checked as you leave the shop and there you can pick up a brochure to guide your visit although they weren't handing them out, I just happened to spot them so make sure you look out for them.

The first part of the castle you come across is the Marques Tower. This is the only part of the fortified castle left. This was the keep of the original castle and looks very small compared to the new one.

Make sure you check out the door of the main castle as it is really amazing. It dates from the reign of Francois I and shows the arms of the castle's builders and the symbol of Francois himself, a salamander, which you can spot all over the Loire as a lot of the castles seem to date from his time.

Inside the castle there are eighteen rooms which you can look around. There were a few highlights for me. The first was Diane de Poitier's bedroom. I've studied some of Henry II's reign and about his wife, Catherine, so I was really intrigued by this. The irony of having Catherine's portrait on the wall of this room is great! I love the royal connections, the portrait and the symbology of this room.

The green study and the library were Catherine de Medici's working rooms when she became regent of France (her sons were young when her husband was killed). Just the thought that she was in these rooms gave me a little thrill (yes, I am a History nut!). What really surprised me was the small size of the library where Catherine had her desk. It was really tiny and you would think that a queen would demand a larger space.

My favourite space in the castle was definitely the gallery. This is the area built by Catherine on top of Diane's bridge. The room is 60 metres long (about 180 feet) with a black and white floor, wooden ceiling and huge windows either side to make it really airy. You could see how this would have made the most amazing ballroom.

Louis XIV's bedroom is also an amazing room. It is really bright red in colour and has a beautiful fireplace with Francois's salamanders on it painted in gold. My favourite bedroom was definitely Louise of Lorraine's bedroom. The room is painted black, including the ceiling. Louise retired to Chenonceau after the assassination of her husband Henry III in the French Wars of Religion. The room is painted with objects associated with mourning including silver tears and widows' coronets. The room is very atmospheric and I can't imagine actually sleeping in it.

There are lots of other rooms in the castle but I won't go into all of them. They are sumptuously decorated and are really interesting to look round. You can also see the kitchens which give a bit of a view of the other side of castle life which was interesting as well.

Chenonceau is also famous for it's gardens but I have to admit that I'm a bit of a philistine when it comes to gardens and I'm just not interested enough to look around them. They did look incredibly beautiful, however, and I'm sure if you were spending a while at the castle you would make the effort to look round them properly. There is a maze in the gardens as well which I would have liked to have done if we'd have had more time (we were averaging three castles a day!).

There is a café in the old stables of the castle. We stopped here for a drink as the water we'd brought hadn't lasted and it was unbelievably hot. The prices were high and I wouldn't recommend getting anything here unless you have to, although as the castle is a way outside the village there aren't really any alternatives. There is also a more exclusive restaurant called L'Orangerie which is open from March to November. We didn't venture here but I'm sure the view would make the extra cost worth while for a special event.

I would also recommend taking a little rowing boat out so that you can row under the bridge of the castle. We hired a boat which cost Euro4 for half an hour which was a bargain because we really enjoyed it. We rowed under the bridge and a little way down the river and it also gave us some great pictures. They provide life jackets as well. If you're not keen on boats it is definitely worth walking a little way down the river in order to get the best views of the castle.

CONCLUSION:

I would highly recommend a visit to Chenonceau to anyone visiting the Loire area. It's not that cheap but it really is worth the price as the castle is stunning. The setting makes it perfect. The rooms are beautiful and the gallery is just amazing. Even if you're not a History nut (like me) then you can't help but be a little impressed by the location of the castle and the way it's built over the river.