Like Tours, Blois can serve as a convenient base of operations for exploring the Central Loire Valley due to its central location and access to highways and the railroad.  Perched high over the center of town, the Château de Blois (Ph: 011 33 02 54 90 33 33) ranks among the most spectacular in the Loire Valley.  Built in the Middle Ages, the Château of Blois came to the peak of its glory at the Renaissance. When Louis XII succeeded Charles VIII to the throne in 1498, he moved his Royal residence from Amboise to Blois.  The architecture spans several different periods as construction was started in the 1300's and the last wing was added in the 1600's.  The Château holds relics of the buildings history and politics.  Most evenings from April to September have son-et-lumiére shows in French and English.

The last of the classic Châteaux to be built in the Loire Valley, the Château de Cheverny was completed in 1634.  The ornate exteriors, interiors, lawns and gardens, furnishings, and tapestries really show that this was the culmination of the Renaissance in the Loire Valley.  The château is surrounded by large lawns creating green borders that are in perfect harmony with the architecture around them.  In addition to these lawns is a park with an English design and composed of majestic trees.

The Château offers unique ways of viewing it, including by boat, electric buggy, or hot air balloon.  There is a son-et-lumiére show nightly during the summers.  The official chateau website is at www.chateau-cheverny.fr.

Around 1518, François I decided to build a château as a hunting lodge in Sologne, which was famous for its large expanses teeming with game. At this time, the architecture of the Loire châteaux had been strongly influenced by the Italian style for almost half a century.  The Chateau de Chambord was therefore to be a compromise between the Italian artistic movement and the traditional medieval castle.  The result is the largest of all the chateaux in the Loire Valley, the Château de Chambord, one of the most extraordinary and extravagant buildings in Europe.  With over 400 rooms, over 300 chimneys, and a wall that stretches over 20 miles that was built in 1645, the entire facility is much more of a community than a residence (when François I visited, he would bring an entourage of thousands).  Although most of the furnishings were taken during the French Revolution, the building alone is worth the visit.  Gloriously illuminated at night, there is a son-et-lumiére held nightly in the summer in French, German, and English.  To experience life as it was in Chambord's heyday, rent a horse at the former stables of the Maréchal de Saxe and explore the grounds and forests or rent a boat to explore the extensive moat and Grand Canal that links it to the River Cosson.

Located about 10 miles southwest of Orléans, the Château de Meung figures prominently in Loire Valley history as the residence of the Bishops of Orléans.  In the war between the English and the French, led by Joan of Arc it was the command headquarters of the English Earl of Salisbury.  Restored in the 1970's it now houses an extensive collection of military gear ranging from medieval crossbows to contemporary machine guns.  There is also a tour of the underground tunnel network that includes the dungeons and torture chambers.

Now a thriving center of commerce, the old quarter of Orléans between the Cathédral Ste-Croix (rebuilt into an imposing Gothic structure) and the Loire is still worth a visit.  Much of the history of the city revolves around their heroine, Joan of Arc, who rallied the French against the English, forcing them out of Orléans in 1429.  Other sites to visit include the Musée des Beaux Arts (includes works by Tintoretto, Velázquez, Rodin, and Gaugin), the Musée Historique (with works dating from the Gallic era to contemporary time), the Maison de Jeanne d'Arc (a reconstruction of her half-timbered house with extensive dioramas of important points of her life).  The city's website is at www.ville-orleans.fr.

This town is an ideal spot for a break, with a beautiful public park complete with magnolias, weeping willows, and rhododendrons (best viewed in late Spring/early summer).  Overlooking the Loire, there are numerous scenic picnic spots.

Unlike the Renaissance architecture found further to the west, the Château de Sully dates back to the early 1300's and has a more medieval taste to it.  For more on-line information, go to www.coeur-de-france.com/sully.