Chaumont

Chaumont is a lovely town set just above the banks of the Loire River. Her chateaux was where Catherine de Medici reputedly livied when her husband Henry II was killed and she became regent. She supposedly bought the château so that she could swap it with Diane de Poitiers (her husband’s mistress) for Chenonceaux. Diane found it did not match up to Chenonceaux and left—you can understand why. Later Benjamin Franklin paid a visit to sit for an Italian sculptor who had set up his headquarters in the stables. Approached across a drawbridge, the château has three wings—the fourth side was pulled down in 1739—opening up to a fine view of the Loire Valley. (Open all year, tel: 02.54.51.26.26.) You can tour the apartments and the stables.