Blois: Four Centuries in One Courtyard, and a Murder
Centre-Val de Loire, France
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Château royal de Blois
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250
XP
+100 France
= 350 total
1 day
Blois: Four Centuries in One Courtyard, and a Murder
250 + 100 XP
Stand in the courtyard at Blois and you can see four periods at once: the remains of the medieval castle of the counts of Blois, Louis XII's brick-and-stone Gothic wing, Francis I's Renaissance wing with its open spiral staircase covered in carving, and Gaston of Orléans's classical wing, left unfinished when the money ran out in 1638. Louis XII was born in the town and moved the court here, making Blois the capital of the Renaissance in France, and the Estates General sat in the château's great hall in 1576 and 1588. On 23 December 1588 Henry III had his rival Henry, Duke of Guise, killed in the king's own chamber on the second floor, and the next day the duke's brother the cardinal was murdered too.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Stand in the courtyard and sort out what you are looking at: three wings — Louis XII's brick-and-stone Flamboyant Gothic, Francis I's Renaissance, Gaston of Orléans's Classical one left unfinished in 1638 — and the medieval traces of the counts' castle behind them, four periods in one square
2
of 5
Climb Francis I's staircase, an octagonal open spiral with three of its eight sides buried in the wall, and pick out the salamanders, the crowns, the F for Francis I and the C for Claude de France in the carving Balzac said was worked like a Chinese ivory
3
of 5
Stand in the king's second-floor chamber where Henry III had the Duke of Guise killed on 23 December 1588, then find the château's painting of the scene after Paul Delaroche and the portrait of Henri de Lorraine, the duke they called le Balafré
4
of 5
Go through the eight galleries of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, in the Louis XII wing since 1869 — paintings and sculpture from the 16th to the 19th century, French and Flemish tapestries, and the set of fifty terracotta medallions by Jean-Baptiste Nini
5
of 5
Find the Salle des États, built by Count Thibaut VI in 1214 and the oldest Gothic civil hall in France, where the Estates General sat in 1576 and 1588, and look up at the 6,720 or so fleurs-de-lis Félix Duban painted on its panelling
Stand in the courtyard and sort out what you are looking at: three wings — Louis XII's brick-and-stone Flamboyant Gothic, Francis I's Renaissance, Gaston of Orléans's Classical one left unfinished in 1638 — and the medieval traces of the counts' castle behind them, four periods in one square
Climb Francis I's staircase, an octagonal open spiral with three of its eight sides buried in the wall, and pick out the salamanders, the crowns, the F for Francis I and the C for Claude de France in the carving Balzac said was worked like a Chinese ivory
Stand in the king's second-floor chamber where Henry III had the Duke of Guise killed on 23 December 1588, then find the château's painting of the scene after Paul Delaroche and the portrait of Henri de Lorraine, the duke they called le Balafré
Go through the eight galleries of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, in the Louis XII wing since 1869 — paintings and sculpture from the 16th to the 19th century, French and Flemish tapestries, and the set of fifty terracotta medallions by Jean-Baptiste Nini
Find the Salle des États, built by Count Thibaut VI in 1214 and the oldest Gothic civil hall in France, where the Estates General sat in 1576 and 1588, and look up at the 6,720 or so fleurs-de-lis Félix Duban painted on its panelling
Before you go
The château is open all year apart from 1 January and 25 December, but the winter day is short: 10am to 5pm from 2 November to 18 December and again from 5 January to the end of February, 10am to 6pm over the Christmas and New Year fortnight, and 9am to 6.30pm from April to September. Last access is always half an hour before closing, and on 24 and 31 December the gates shut at 5pm with the last entry at 4.30pm. Four wings in four styles round one courtyard needs a good two hours, so a winter afternoon arrival is not enough.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
350 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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