So my last post from the Chateau de Blois was of gargoyles and stonework, this one is, well just a bit fancier. We're inside the Palace and for some of this post inside the Royal apartments, so they should be fancier shouldn't they?
But before we get there, let's enjoy the ceiling in the Great Hall. It reminds me very much of the ceiling at Saint Chapelle in Paris, and this google search (if the link works) should tell you why. Interestingly enough I was quite taken with the gargoyles outside there too. Yes, I really do have a thing for gargoyles. And ceilings.
Anyway, one of the things that struck me about our visit in Blois was how accessible things were. I mean in this fantastic room there was a pretend throne, which all of the kids - and MOH - tried for size. I'd share that photo here if it wasn't so blurry. I have to practice giggling and taking pictures.
The fireplaces throughout were pretty spectacular. As well as large and highly decorated. They looked similar - and these are just a few of them - and on more than one occasion I found myself popping back to the one I'd just visited to check if it was the same or not. And mostly they weren't.
Some though were more fancier than others.
In the photo below you can see the decorated ceiling too, as well as glimpses of patterned wallpaper around the tapestry. I've said before they really did do pattern and colour didn't they in days gone by?
The lady in the bottom left of the photo above had ten or so school children with her, all drawing elements of the room. And I can tell you they were all so well behaved and polite, and that was great to see too. We kept bumping into them around the chateau as they rushed to the next room for their next activity and having sussed out we were English some tried their English out on us, giggling as they did so. Hence quite a few more blurry photos.
But anyway, I haven't shown you any fancy floors yet and I promised you some.
Just look at the shine on that.
Shiny huh. And fancy obviously. I was lusting after tiled floors on our visit here, but then realised I'd need another house to put them in so that plan's on hold for the moment.
How about this for a party room? Yeap, I'd be pretty happy with it too.
Apparently most of the entertainment would conclude in the King's bedchamber, which I guess if you can you would, wouldn't you? And that was, as you'd expect, more lavishly decorated than the rooms before it. The wallpaper in the shot below and the patterned panel on the fireplace are fantastic patterns which would, I think, translate to a modern setting. They might need to be on a reduced scale, but their geometric and repeating patterns don't look outdated to me.
I think I might give this floor a miss, but I can't say it's not fancy.
There's even wallpaper with his initial too. And an alternative floor H pattern.
Seriously though the decoration throughout the chateau was great to see and at times mind blowing. The ceiling below was so very different than any we'd seen before. But then the more I looked at it, the more I could see a kaleidoscope pattern and couldn't help but wonder, what came first, the ceiling or the kaleidoscope?
Who knows...
So all in all the Chateau de Blois, the Royal Apartments especially were a feast for my eyes. With colour and pattern overload - even for me - but such a great experience. I've more to share from here, but I think my next post in the Loire Cycle Tour will involve a long cycle in the rain, so look out for that one!
