Loire Valley - France - Day 6 - Cheverny/Bauregard/Fougeres

To make up for the disappointment yesterday we headed for two different locations. My shutter therapy is falling short right now!

Our first stop was Cheverny. Built between 1620 and 1634. All the finishing on the towers weren't completed until 1648 however. It's the first château to be built as a château without any defensive or military purposes in mind. And what a beautiful building it is. I could see me living there too, but somehow I don't think that's going to happen. Like I said, I think this must be one of the most beautiful buildings I have had the pleasure to see. It is simply immaculate. I think it must count as my favourites on this trip and if you ever get the chance to visit, do, you will not regret it.

Photography Notes

I have experienced no problems with the Olympus E-M1 with the Olympus 12-100 f4 mounted, or for that matter with the E-M5 II mounting the Panasonic 7-14 f4. Not that I expected any but I'm still really impressed about how everything seems to integrate together. Changing Panasonic lenses on Olympus bodies would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Personally I think it's a brilliant concept. I'm glad I have the 7-14 f4 with me as it's seen nearly as much use as the 12-100 f4. Inside these châteaux it's been in constant use as the 12-100 f4 would simply not be wide enough. I seem to be managing fine with the f4 lenses.

Cheverny - Panasonic TZ101

Cheverny - Olympus E-M1 - Olympus 12-100 f4 Pro

1st image. I don't care what other people think here, this château is one graceful building. The first château to be built without any military purpose in mind. It is simply exquisite and in tip-top shape, inside and out.

2ng image. A slightly different view. Very nice.

7th image. The way to the orangery.

8th image. I like flowers too.

9th image. I think this is a Fireball Hibiscus. Anyway, it's the largest Hibiscus I've ever seen.

12th image. The Orangery. If you're wondering where that name came from, it's where the orange trees were kept duing the cold seasons. It's now a cafe serving excellent coffee.

Cheverny - Olympus E-5 II - Panasonic 7-14 f4

1st image. One of the most imposing rooms I have ever seen. Simply superb. Everything about it seems to be perfect.

2nd image. The ceiling. Amazing and in pristine condition.

3rd image. Taken from the other side of the room.

4th image. The hallway. How wonderful is that. I fell in love with this château the first time I saw it.

5th image. The ceiling in the hallway. Again, in pristine condition.

17th image. Some real national treasures contained within this château.

20th image. The Kings Room.

21st image. Each of these large châteaux had a room for the King. You never knew when he would came and visit.

22nd image. Again very impressive. It cost a small fortune to install one of these rooms. However, the owner could not afford not to have a room especially made for the king. I believe this one only got used for a couple of nights by the king.

23rd image. Naturally, each château had its own little chapel.

25th image. A selfie of sorts.

26th image. Fantastic table. Marble inlaid with different patterns of marble. I couldn't take my eyes off it. A real work of art.

30th image. I must use these wide angle lenses more.

35th image. If you haven't noticed the tile collage depicts Cheverny.

Another little titbit about Cheverny. The owner is an avid hunter and keeps a pack of nearly a 100 hounds on the grounds and hunting takes place twice a week during the winter months. Now these hounds aren't your normal run of the mill dogs, they are really enormous and are a mix of English foxhounds and a French breed. I was just glad there was a fence between them and me or they'd have had me for breakfast I think. They are also a little smelly, but that's how real dogs smell I suppose. Just think of one smelly dog and multiply it by 100.

Dogs - Panasonic TZ101

1st image. Must be boring for these dogs in the kennel. I really don't know what they do for day to day when not hunting.

3rd image. Taking a nap in the sun.

Our next stop was Château Beauregard. Originally built as a hunting lodge for Henry II, it was transformed in mid-16th century for Henry IIs Secretary-of-State. The most spectacular about this château is the "Portrait Room". It contains 327 portraits of the most important and influential Europeans dating between 1328 and 1643. The reason why it stops at 1643 is because the room was built in 1643. That in itself was a major feat for that period.

The remainder of the château needs some restoration work done, but none the less, it's worth a visit.

Beauregard, not too far away from Cheverny

Château Beauregard - Olympus E-M1 - Olympus 12-100 f4 Pro

Château Beauregard - Olympus E-M5 II - Panasonic 7-14 f4

1st image. The perfect rose.

5th image. Just love these old kitchens with the copper pots and pans.

6th image. When the Romans invaded Gaul some 2000 years ago, most of France was covered with forest (most of northern Europe was actually). Nowadays, forests are a rare thing indeed. Looking at the fireplace and ceiling above, you'll see the reason why, as well as the ship building industry.

7th image. Now that is a piece of furniture.

8th image. This is the real reason we came to Beauregard. The Portrait Room.

9th image. Magnificent.

12th image. The ceiling. And to think that every inch of these châteaux were decorated in some way.

13th image. An exhibition in one of the other rooms at Beauregard. Portraits of dogs on a black background - apart from one; a cat. You can see it on the left second image bottom row. It's there because a friend of the artist asked him to do her cat. It took approximately 3 hours per portrait. And he did a few as you can see. Very well done indeed.

15th image. I took this to show the quality of the portraits and the ceiling at the same time. Both impressed me.

17th image. The Study. Panelled from floor to ceiling. Whoever the craftsman was who did this, he was a real master of his craft.

19th image. You can see my only gripe with this lens. Left side about 2/3rds up the image. Purple blob. Well documented I think but I only noticed this after downloading all my images to my PC. Window is to the left but the sun wasn't really anywhere to be seen. I've noticed this in quite few of my images. Maybe I should try the 7-14 f4 on a Panasonic body.

21st image. Another ceiling shot from the hallway in Beauregard.

Since we had a little time left before the day came to a close, we went to the little village of Fougeres-sur-Bievre. Guess what, it has another casatle/fortress. It was originally built in 1030. During the 100 Years War, it fell into English hands who abandoned it in ruins in 1429. It was rebuilt in 1470 and turned into a small fortress. Between 1510 and 1520 it was again modifies with a covered gallery and some decoration. It is a perfect example of a mediaeval fortress (if that's your thing). I suppose you could call it a working château.

Most of the well known Châteaux are within a small part of the Loire Valley, well the eastern half anyway. We still have to do the western half.

All I can say is I'm glad I didn't live in the middle ages. It must have been really hard, especially on the poor.

Fougeres-sur-Bievre - Olympus E-M5 II - Panasonic 7-14 f4

3rd image. What was interesting here is the fact you could see how walls were built in those days.

7th image. Interesting to see how these fortresses were built. Underneath all that stone and slate, wood was a major part of the building process. No wonder wood can claim a premium price these days.

8th image. The finished product.