Blois Castle, the house of 7 kings and 10 queens, Loire Valley

Aerial view of Blois Castle, in the middle of Blois town

Blois Castle is the only one built in a city centre. It was the favourite house of French Kings during the Renaissance and it is an unique example of French architecture from the 12th to the 17th century with its 4 wings built at various times.

Gothic architecture (Louis XII)

Renaissance architecture, with this beautiful external spiral staircase (Francis I)

This castle has been restored by Felix Duband during the 19th century, and the interior is really fabulous. Unlike other castles of the Loire Valley, this one is very well furnished and all rooms are full of colors. You will really be able to put yourself in the place of the kings who lived here.

The King bedroom, with a painting of Henri III

The two more amazing rooms for us are the "Salle des Etats Généraux" and the "Cabinet de la Reine".

The first one is a huge room (18 m wide and 30 m long), built in 1214. You will feel like an ant when you will enter in this room for the first time. A throne is waiting there for your kids, they can sit on it like a Renaissance King. That will give a nice picture !

The "Salle des Etats Généraux" : fabulous

The second is a little room with walls covered with 217 carved wooden panelling. This panelling has not been changed since the time of Catherine de Medicis, 500 years ago. That's amazing, no ?

The "Cabinet de la Reine"

The castle offers various type of visits. The typical guided tour is offered in English during July and August, and you can rent an audio-guide in various languages throughout the year. Unfortunately the family type visits are only in French.

During summer time, the castle offers swords fight shows in the castle courtyard, very impressive and funny.  The actors are really sword masters, and you will think that they fight real duels until they make everybody laugh with some joke. At the end of the show, the actors pose for the photo. It makes really nice pictures with the children in the middle of the swordsmen.

The swords fight show

You will need only a half day to visit Blois Castle. That gives you the time to visit the House of Magic, another must-see of Blois, just in front of the Château.

Website : http://en.chateaudeblois.fr/