CHÂTEAU DE CHEVERNY

Cheverny is the largest of the still inhabited private castles of the Loire Valley. The estate has been owned by the same family for over 700 years. Hergé was inspired by it to design the Moulinsart castle of Captain Haddock. Even the broken step of the grand staircase in "les Bijoux de la Castafiore" comes from Cheverny! In the castle, Hergé has a predecessor: Jean Mosnier. This one, in the 17th century, reproduced the story of Don Quixote in the dining room, in the form of thirty-four panels. The ancestor of comic books, in short. To see: the extraordinary sculpted decoration of the Louis XIII grand staircase, many architectural treasures, paintings, sculptures and furnishings... Cheverny is one of the best furnished castles and one of the most pleasant to visit. Outside, Orangerie now hosts a café-snack for gourmet breaks from April to November. The Cheverny park covers an area of 100 hectares. Four gardens are open to the public: a contemporary ornamental garden, a vegetable garden, a tulip garden for which more than 250,000 bulbs have been planted and the Jardin de l'Amour inaugurated in 2019 presenting 6 monumental statues by Gudmar Olovson. Facing the castle, the main avenue extends for almost 6 km. An important kennel is associated with the castle; it houses 100 hunting dogs that can be seen having dinner at 11:30am in the high season. Finally, numerous events, like the Venetian weekend and the Jazz in Cheverny festival (end of June), bring the gardens of Cheverny to life.