The château that rewrites itself every 200 years — where four wings in four architectural styles were built by seven French kings, Catherine de Medici kept 237 hidden poison cupboards behind carved wood panels, and the world's greatest stage magician was born and became Robert-Houdin
Blois (45,000) on the Loire is one of the most historically concentrated cities in the Loire Valley — the Château Royal de Blois rises above the old town in four distinct architectural styles accumulated by seven French kings: Louis XII's Flamboyant Gothic wing (1498–1503), François I's Italian Renaissance spiral staircase wing (1515–1524), Gaston d'Orléans' Classical wing (by Mansart, 1635–1638), and the original 13th-century Gothic Salle des États. The city was also the birthplace of Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805–1871), the watchmaker who became the world's greatest stage conjurer and ins…
Blois was the seat of the powerful Counts of Blois from the 9th century; Louis I of Orléans purchased the county in 1397, and from 1498 the château became a primary royal residence of the Valois dynasty. Charles d'Orléans (1394–1465) — the French prince captured at Agincourt and held in the Tower of London for 25 years — spent his later years at the Château de Blois writing some of the finest lyric poetry of the 15th century; the Ballade of the Snowball was written there for a court poetry competition. Catherine de Medici, widow of Henri II, used the Cabinet des Poisons — 237 hidden cupboards…