Chateau d'Amboise

As promised, here is the first of my separate post on the two main attractions of Amboise, the royal castle and the palace where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life.  I was going to do them both in one but that would have gotten ridiculously long.

First off, the castle is considerably smaller today than it was for hundreds of years, and only part of what remains is open to visitors.  Here is a diagram of the castle, in red are the parts that were demolished and in black are the parts that remain:

So mainly, part of the fortified walls, the main royal residence area, and a small chapel remain whereas the rest of the court's rooms and most of the walls are gone.  The castle was first built in the 11th century because it this was a strategic location: there were only ten bridges that crossed the Loire at that time and one was here; and the river narrows considerably around Amboise, making it a likely place for people of all sorts (but especially armies) to cross.  I don't think the walls and towers date from that time but they're certainly much older than the rest of the castle - I would guess probably 13th century. 

It was not originally owned by the royal family, but they confiscated it in the early 1400's.  From that time until the early 1600's this was a favorite home of the monarchs and the main place where all the royal children (and sometimes their fiancees, like Mary, Queen of Scots, who was brought here when she was a toddler but already queen of Scotland and betrothed to the heir to the French throne) were raised. 

Here is the residential building that is open today, started in the late 1400's:

 
Currently each floor is decorated in the style of a different important era of the castle.

First is the Renaissance.  Here is a suit of armor from the 1400's; it wasn't battle armor but would have been worn for things like ceremonies and parades.  You can't really tell but there are intricate designs over most of the plates.

It was a pretty cold day and inside the castle was very chilly.  This was the first time I've actually seen a fireplace in use at a place like this, and I have to say it was very cozy!  I've often wondered, while going through these big stone buildings, how people dealt with the cold that seems to be permanent in all of them.  I guess this answers my questions.

This was some sort of multi-purpose great hall for receptions and things.  It was quite light and airy, unlike lots of castles.

I believe this was an ante-room to the bedroom of Francois I, contemporary and main frenemy of Henry VIII of England.

And a little later on, towards the Protestant Reformation.  Amboise fell out of favor as a royal residence due to some convoluted machinations of the Reformation, what was known as the Amboise Conspiracy.  When the conspiracy was discovered it seems like the king had a hissy fit and moved his family to Paris.

And finally we have the early/mid 19th century, under the restoration of the monarchy post-Napoleon.  These are the king's bedroom and the music room.

Also here, ever wondered what it looks like at the top of a castle tower? 

The grounds were very pretty.  Amboise had the first Italian-style garden in France and they've tried to restore it, sort of.  The thing is, a lot of the area where the gardens are now is actually where parts of the castle had been before.  You can see one of the medieval gates in the background.

These trees are all over small towns in France, and they're super weird looking in the winter.  The guide said they're linden trees.

Finally, there is a small chapel that has survived, and da Vinci's tomb is in it.  He had been in the big church in the castle complex but it was demolished, so they moved him here.