Château royal de Blois

Blois

The royal château of Blois stacks four wings and four centuries of architecture above the Loire, from the Gothic States hall to the classical wing of Gaston d'Orléans, by way of François I's open spiral staircase. Favourite residence of Louis XII and then François I, it was also the setting for the nights that fed the dark legend of the last Valois. On 23 December 1588, Henri III had Henri de Guise, leader of the Catholic League, assassinated there by his bodyguard, the Forty-Five, in the royal antechamber; the next day it was his brother the Cardinal de Guise's turn. Catherine de Médicis, ill on the floor below, learned of the murder and died thirteen days later, on 5 January 1589. Her study, lined with 237 carved wood panels concealing secret cupboards, has for generations been shown as her "poison cabinet." Historians see it rather as storage for precious objects and diplomatic documents: the Florentine queen's reputation as a poisoner owes much to the prejudices of the time against Italians and to Alexandre Dumas's La Reine Margot. The highly staged tour keeps this shadowy side alive; the "ghost of the Duke of Guise" sometimes mentioned on site belongs to present-day tourist storytelling and appears in no old source.

Château royal de Blois — les appartements royaux ↗

Getting there : Blois-Chambord station about ten minutes' walk away (Paris-Austerlitz around 1h30); the château overlooks Place du Château, at the top of the old town. Open year-round, paid entry; self-guided or guided tours of the royal apartments, Catherine de Médicis's study and the room where the Duke of Guise was killed. Sound-and-light show in the evening from April to September. Allow 1h30 to 2h for the visit. The 237-panel study is the highlight not to be missed.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound