Chenonceau Chateau was contemporaneous with Chambord. Chambord was uncomfortable, impracticable, garish, overblown, and innovative. Chenonceau was comfortable, practicable, beautiful, and not particularly innovative. That’s probably because the original castle was built by one of the king’s main advisers, who obviously had more sense.

The castle was built at the site of a water mill. One of the later owners thought it would be cool to extend it across the river by building a bridge. Unlike the bridge in Avignon, this bridge goes all the way across the river. But there is no place to to on the other side of the river. Still, it’s a cool castle with a cool bridge.

A cool castle needs a cool chapel. This one is way cool. The original stain glass windows were destroyed during WW II. These were created in the 1950s. But it’s still way cool.

When can a castle owner add to put his chateau over the top? How about a basement spooky torture chamber? A first-rate wine cellar would be a lot better. Many thanks to Danita for finding this wine cellar while I was drinking coffee.

If you get to France and have time to visit just one chateau, make sure you see Chenonceau.