Château de Blois

Blois sits on the north bank of the River Loire. The Chamber of the States General and part of a tower are all that remain of the 13th-century fortification that occupied this site. Much of the magnificent edifice you see today is due to Francis I’s trying to keep his brother Gaston d’Orléans (who was always conspiring against him) out of trouble. In 1662 he banished him to Blois and gave him the project of restoring the château. Gaston hired the famous architect Mansart. The château has its stories of love, intrigue, and politicking, but its most famous is the murder of the Duke of Guise. In 1688 the powerful Henri de Guise called the States General here with the intention of deposing Henry III and making himself king. Henry found out about the plot and murdered the Duke. Who did what and where is explained in great detail on the tour. The most interesting room on the tour is Catherine de Medici’s bedchamber with its many secret wall panels, used in the true Medici tradition to hide jewels, documents, and poisons. (Open all year, tel: 02.54.90.33.33.)