Loir-et-Cher: Chambord, Blois, and the Sologne
Loir-et-Cher (named after two rivers, neither of which is the Loire itself) sits in the central Loire Valley. Blois, the prefecture, has a chateau whose facade spans four centuries of French architecture from Gothic to Classical. The Chateau de Chambord, the largest in the Loire Valley with 426 rooms and a double-helix staircase possibly designed by Leonardo da Vinci, is in this department.
Cheverny, another famous chateau, inspired Herge's Marlinspike Hall in the Tintin comics. The Sologne, a flat, lake-dotted hunting territory south of the Loire, covers much of the department's southern half. The population is about 329,000. Romorantin-Lanthenay was once home to a Matra car factory. Vendome, in the north, has a ruined castle and an abbey church with a flamboyant Gothic facade.
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Loir-et-Cher (named after two rivers, neither of which is the Loire itself) sits in the central Loire Valley. Blois, the prefecture, has a chateau whose facade spans four centuries of French architecture from Gothic to Classical. The Chateau de Chambord, the largest in the Loire Valley with 426 rooms and a double-helix staircase possibly designed by Leonardo da Vinci, is in this department.
Cheverny, another famous chateau, inspired Herge's Marlinspike Hall in the Tintin comics. The Sologne, a flat, lake-dotted hunting territory south of the Loire, covers much of the department's southern half. The population is about 329,000. Romorantin-Lanthenay was once home to a Matra car factory. Vendome, in the north, has a ruined castle and an abbey church with a flamboyant Gothic facade.
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