Chateau de Chenonceau: A Royal Love Triangle

The Chateau de Chenonceau is a French chateau spanning the river Cher (no relation), near the small village of Chenonceaux in Loire Valley.  It is the very first Chateau I toured on my first trek to the motherland and still to this day remains my favourite by far.  Not just because it is beautiful, but because it has so much life to it.  It’s rich with a history of battling royals, heiresses, artists and financiers and even the French revolution.

It is the best-known chateaux of the Loire valley and its image evokes the idea of the marriage between nature and architecture.  Second only to the main royal residences of Versailles and Le Louvre, Chenonceau is the most visited castle in France.  As a former Royal residence, it was built, loved, managed and protected by several remarkable women.  Chenonceau’s story begins during the French Renaissance and is also the story of the most famous royal love triangle in French history. Continued ...