The Royal Château de Chambord is the largest of the Loire Valley’s famous chateaux. It was built to serve as a hunting lodge for Francis I, who maintained his royal residences at the Blois and Amboise.
It is thought that Leonardo da Vinci, who became a friend of the king in the last three years of his life, had a hand in some of the designs for the chateau.
Work began on the fairytale castle in 1519, but Francis would never see it completed, even though he lived another 28 years after the building was started.
Q: Chambord was built for Francis I but how long did he actually spend there?
2. Wine of distinction
Pouilly-Fumé is a dry white wine made from sauvignon-blanc grapes. It is one of the Loire Valley’s best-loved wines. The official Pouilly-Fumé area takes in seven parishes on the right bank of the Loire, from Mesves-sur-Loire to Saint-Martin-sur-Nohain. These villages are technically in Burgundy, although Pouilly-Fumé is very definitely a Loire Valley wine.
Q: Why is it named Fumé (meaning smoked)?
3. Prince of poets
Pierre de RonsardPublic domain/Wikimedia
The best-loved French poet of the Renaissance, Pierre de Ronsard, was born in he Couture-sur-Loire, in a manor which can still be visited Called the ‘prince of poets’, he was from a noble family and spent a lot of time at royal courts – in Scotland as a boy, then in France - before returning to his native area.
He was part of a group of poets who called themselves after the constellation the Pleiades and is best known for his romantic verses, especially his poems to Hélène and Cassandre, which both encourage a young lady to ‘seize the day’... by reciprocating his love!
Q: What does Ronsard compare youthful beauty to in these poems?
Answers
1. Francis I, who reigned when the royal court was forever on the move, spent just 72 days and 42 nights at the enormous Château de Chambord.
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2. At maturity, sauvignon blanc grapes are coated with a grey bloom, the colour of smoke — which explains why Pouilly winegrowers talk of ‘white smoke’ to describe the vine or wines made from it. Fumé also refers to the ‘gun flint aroma’, said to be bestowed on the wine by the flint bedrock under the vineyards of Pouilly/Loire.
3. A rose. His poem to Cassandre begins: Mignonne, allons voir si la rose... (Darling, let’s go see if the rose...), and his sonnet to Hélène contains the line Cuillez dès aujourd’hui les roses de la vie (Pick life’s roses today).
