The Castle of Chenonceau is another of the picturesque and portrayable castles in the landscape of surviving France of the Renaissance.  Is remarkable because of the rising to power of Henri the II, husband of the queen Catherine of Medicis.

The view with some detail of one of the towers and typical roofs, during the noon in a sunny summer day of June.

And this is the Cher river, which runs through it and it finally yields onto the Loire river. The guides refer the Cher river was a limit of the conflict during WW II, and the castle was saved by a whisker, because there were the plans to explode it !

An artwork of the castle.

The surrounding gardens of the castle.

And this is the portrait of queen Catherine of Medicis, the wife and widow of the king Henri the 2nd. This portrait dates of the time as a widow, she wears her characteristic black garment. She is the mother of Francis II, Charles IX, Henri III and the famous "Margot", wife of the first protestant king in France, Henri IV.

The bed of the queen Catherine of Medicis.

Here it is showed a documental treasure, the archives of Chenonceau, about the feoffs of Roche and Cornillac.

In the archives of Chenonceau, it appears the very signature of Diane of Poitiers, one of the most famous owners of the chastle. Diane of Poitiers is famous beacuse as a cortisan, she became the so called "maitresse in titre" (royal lover) of  Henri II.

The place for art exposition in the galleries built on the river. In its time, was a ballroom inaugurated by Catherine of Medicis in honour of her son, Henri III.

The kitchen of the castle, the enormous fireplace to cook for a plenty of members of the ambulatory court during the time of Borbon dinasty. Basically the castles functioned not only as a royal abode, but as a warehouse of foodstuff during the different seasons, allowing the king an his enormous court to have the royal way of life of that time. That is why there were so many castles built along the Loire river, such as Amboise, Blois, Fontenbleau, among others.