On Thursday 25th we arrived in Tours, our base for exploring a couple of Loire Valley châteaux. Tours itself is a lively place, with cute little medieval streets in parts with a number of beautiful churches rising out of the maze where you least expect them.

Yesterday we visited the Château of Chenonceau, built originally by a rich French family, the Bohiers, but eventually taken over/seized by the French Royal family in 1547 under King Henry II. What makes it special is that it is built in and across the River Cher. It has been very well looked after over the centuries and was even spared by the French Revolution due to the popularity and astuteness of it's owner of the time Madame Louise Dupin. Even before the revolution she had entertained and charmed leaders of the Enlightenment such as Voltaire and Rousseau at the Château. She preserved the Château by making the case that, as the only bridge across the river for miles, it was vital to travel and commerce. Local legend also says that she dropped the "x" from Chenonceaux to appease local revolutionary villagers to differentiate what was a symbol of the monarchy from the Republic.

Our favourite story is that of two consecutive occupants: Henry II's mistress Diane de Poitiers and his wife Catherine de Medici. Henry gave Chenonceau to Diane, the woman he truly loved, as a gift in 1547 and she expanded the Château across to the other side of the river and established the beautiful gardens.

However, when Henry died in 1559, Catherine wanted the castle for herself. But she could not seize it as it no longer belonged to the crown but Diane herself. So Catherine forced Diane to swap Chenonceau for another château, Château Chaumont. Catherine now made Chenonceau her favourite residence and continued Diane's work on the extension and gardens. It's always interesting to hear the stories of strong stubborn women at work in these male-dominated periods.

The rooms themselves are sumptuously decorated and there is an amazing range of trinkets and mementoes from it's royal occupants.

In the 1800s it was bought by a rich Scotsman for his daughter, in WWI it was used as a military hospital and in WWII it was used as a means of escaping the Nazi occupied zone on one side of the river to the "free" Vichy side on the other side.

In the afternoon we walked to the next village to get a ferry boat back up the river to see the Château from water and to go under it.

Today we visited Chambord, another château, which was built by King François I to impress his guests - it took 28 years to build from 1519-1547. It does not have the same permanently furnished rooms as Chenonceau as it was built during a time when royalty was always on the move consolidating their rule. Therefore all furniture and installations were able to be dismantled and transported to the next royal residence. However the structure itself is well maintained and there are some rooms that are furnished from later Kings such as Louis XVI, the first king to establish permanent furnishings such as the entire Palace of Versailles.

Highlights were the double-helix staircase, with two staircases so that we could walk on different ones and never run in to each other. There are openings inside the staircase though so you can see each other at different stages - we had a lot of fun with it. The roof level is also very fun as you walk around the beginning of all the different turrets and towers, as well as getting great views across the large grounds.

We must admit that after visiting so many castles and palaces, particularly from this 1500s/1600s period, it's hard to be as wowed and excited by these places which seems very strange to us. They were nonetheless very impressive and have fascinating histories, occupants and controversies.