Blois and Cheverny

Before Cheverny’s measured symmetry comes Blois’s theatrical collage: four wings for four eras, from Louis XII to Gaston d’Orléans, an open-air crash course in French architecture. In the courtyard, François I’s spiral staircase tells the Renaissance story without a label. Twenty minutes away, Cheverny reveals interiors continuously furnished since the 1600s, the very model Hergé used for Marlinspike Hall. Between them, the wide, shallow Loire and rare vines bearing the Cour-Cheverny appellation, home to Romorantin first planted under François I.

For the day, a private chauffeur in Orléans collects you at your hotel and sets the pace, with a Mercedes at your disposal for roughly nine hours and reservations arranged on request. It’s one hour to Blois via the A10 or along the levee; you tour while your driver handles tickets and waiting, then lunch in old Blois. In the afternoon, it’s a 17 km hop to Cheverny—intact Louis XIV salons and a Tintin exhibit. On the way back, allow 45 minutes at a Cour-Cheverny estate to taste a dry Romorantin while the driver keeps an eye on timing.