Loire is synonymous with castles, among the most beautiful in France, built on both sides of the river that gives its name to the Valley and near its tributaries. The Loire is the longest river in France with its over 1000 kilometers and winds along this magnificent valley covered with vineyards and included among the UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The most secret Loire
The Loire Valley is divided into two regions: “Loire Valley”, the area that extends towards the Atlantic Ocean, and “Centre-Loire Valley” closer to Paris. Tourists mostly head north, to the best-known area, where we can find two of the most famous of the 103 castles, Amboise and Chambord, and where the picturesque cities of Blois and Orleans are located.
But there is a less obvious and very intriguing Loire, a secret Loire which includes the former royal province of La Touraine in the south-west part of the Indre-et-Loire department. An area which, despite the glories of the past, is still little visited by the classic tour of the Loire Valley and which deserves to be explored starting from Loches, “Ville d’Art et d’Histoire” and “Plus Beau Détour de France”.
The town has a lower part with a Renaissance imprint in which the Tower of Sant’Antonio stands out with the double function of bell tower and watchtower. Of the walls that surrounded this part of the city, only the Corfeliers and Picois access gates remain. Other architectural jewels of the lower Loches are the noble palaces of the Chancellery and the Centaur with stupendous bas-relief sculptures on the facades.
In the upper part there is the Citadelle Royale which has seen five centuries of history flow within its imposing walls. Passing through the Porte Royale immerses you directly in medieval times. The village, completely enclosed by an intact city wall about two kilometers long, was built by Count Folco III of Anjou, known as Nerra or the Black, who lived between 970 and 1040. It was he who conceived the towering tower, flanked by two other towers erected later. But if the walk on the smooth stones of the paved streets and uphill closed by high walls ensures a dive into the Middle Ages, the descent into the basement of the Tour de Martelet takes you back to the Italy of 1500. In fact, in the tower which was a prison until 1926, he was locked up the Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza, known as il Moro. Taken prisoner by the French armies during the Italian wars, he remained there at the behest of Louis XII for four years, from 1504 to 1508, until his death.
In the Citadel, the Logis du Roi stands out, the royal palace, which welcomed four kings of France: Charles VII, Louis XI, Charles VIII and Louis XII, but also famous women such as Joan of Arc, Queen Anne of Brittany and Agnès Sorel, the favorite mistress of King Charles VII to whom she bore four children. She was buried like a queen in the splendid Collegiate Church of Sant’Orso, characterized by a superb portal carved in polychrome stone and two towers with eight-sided pyramidal domes.
Don’t miss a tour of the colorful stalls full of delicacies, from cheeses to cured meats and wines, of the market which takes place in Loches every Wednesday and Saturday, one of the largest in Touraine. But on Sunday evening it is difficult to find an open place to dine so we were unable to taste the specialties of Le George overlooking the Indre river and housed in a former nineteenth-century coaching inn. Instead, we went to Le Prosper, a bistro in the center of the lower town with a few tables outside and a delightful room with a pleasant atmosphere where a refined menu is served.
We want to return to Loches not only to explore the Citadelle Royale by climbing to the top of the tower to have a magnificent panoramic view but also to admire the two paintings by Caravaggio kept in the Saint-Antoine Gallery.
Around Loches, after crossing a forest of spectacular beauty, you come across the Chartreuse du Liget built in 1180 and can only be visited from the outside. Right nearby we spent the nights of our weekend in the heart of the Loire at the Château Monastère de la Corroirie, a large and evocative complex which over time had the dual function of a fortified castle and a monastery belonging to the Carthusian order.
Here we were guests together with our Otto of the current owners, the Countess Guy de Mareüil and her son Jeff, who have converted the monastery into a hôtel de charme with five rooms, each different from the other: where pilgrims once stayed today they stop travelers discovering the Loire.
Continuing here is Montrésor, one of the smallest French municipalities with just 345 inhabitants, dominated by a medieval fortress and a Renaissance castle surrounded by a romantic park.
Moving further north, the scenic Chateau de Chenonceau, one of the stars of Touraine, is unmissable. Built in the 16th century on the Cher river where an ancient fortress and a fortified mill once stood, it was the sumptuous Renaissance residence of kings and queens. The best known and most antagonistic among intrigues and love affairs were Diana of Poitiers, the lover of King Henry II and Catherine de Medici, the wife of the monarch who chased away her rival upon the death of her husband. Each was responsible for the beauty of the fortress’s rooms but above all of its gardens, which are still among the most splendid in all of France today.
