The Fairytale Chateaus of the Loire Valley – Chateau de Chambord and its Horse Show

I have been dreaming of having a road trip to visit the fairytale chateaus of the Loire Valley for years; our last visit was over a decade ago via a day trip from Paris on a van tour. The day trip was really rushed to see four chateaus in a day so this time with our own rental car, we can explore the beautiful region at our own pace with our kids. My daughter is such a princess that she was super excited to stay in a castle! Our day started with picking up our rental car from Gare Saint-Lazare at 10 AM, the car rental office was so hard to find inside the train station! The map inside the train station is not helpful at all. At last, I had to ask for a staff and he said that the car rental offices are all on the right end of the platforms. There were two customers in front of us so we waited around 20 minutes for our turn to fill out the paperwork. The car was located in the garage across the street from the train station and when we located the car, the car seat was not inside (I booked a car seat for my son for extra charge and packed an inflatable booster seat for my daughter). I highly recommend the inflatable booster seat, it’s foldable so easy to pack in a carry-on. I had to walk back to the car rental office and told the lady about the missing car seat. She appologized that the staff didn’t put it inside the car last night, she walked over to the garage and opened a storage room filled with car seats. We picked one and made our way out of Paris! The drive was around two-hours to Chambord. I booked 2 nights at the Relais de Chambord (partnered with Hilton, so I used Hilton points to redeem the free nights), its location is unbeatable, it is right next to the most famous chateau of the Loire Valley – Chateau de Chambord.

Once arrived, we parked at the designated parking lot for hotel guests. We dragged our luggage on the gravel road to the entrance…urg…we should’ve driven all the way up to the reception entrance to drop off the luggage! We got upgraded to a bigger room so they can add an extra bed to fit our kids….we actually don’t need the extra bed! The kids were surprised by their welcome gifts:

Plus a set of kid’s toiletries and activity kits!

They also have kid’s bathrobes and slippers!

Our comfortable bedroom, our other room was smaller and also had a smaller bathroom:

The bathroom was spacious:

We had lunch at the hotel’s restaurant (Le Grand Saint-Michel) since the horse show starts at 4 PM, the next closest restaurant is in Blois town. The restaurant is outdoor and has a view of the chateau! It was fully booked so we had to waited over 45 minutes for a table, we were starving by then 🙁

Hotel food prices are always more expensive but for the convenience…..they have kid’s menu so we ordered a salmon with mixed vegetables. The salmon was high quality according to Jason.

We ordered grilled chicken breast with pasta so they can share and have variety.

In France, I have to order foie gras! It was rich and flavorful yum yum!

My mom had a chicken salad that was fresh and crunchy:

Oh boy, I don’t even remember what I ordered LOL

Jason ordered a fish filet; the portion was small so he was still hungry after that (as expected when ordering a filet)

The sides were filling!

The kids had chocolate lava cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream:

After lunch, we walked over to the chateau and followed the signs to the horse show, the magnificent Chateau de Chambord! I booked the entrance ticket and horse show online so we just showed/scanned our barcode to enter the horse stable for the show.

The stable has a large open area (stage), a projected screen on the wall, and a covered seating area:

The narrative was in French but with the video on screen, it was easy to figure out that it was about how this piece of land was discovered, the architect who designed it, how it was built and rulers over the years conquering it. The show showcased the horse riding skills of the performers and their humor which was entertaining for our small kids, even though they don’t understand French!

Our kids really enjoyed their stunts!

The fights were fun to watch!

Very impressive standing up while riding!

Also flipping and turning up-side-down, the kids loved watching them!

The show lasted an hour or so, just the right amount for kids! I think it was worth it for €14 per person in addition to the chateau entrance fee! Admission for the chateau itself was €19 for adult and free for kid under 18! The main entrance side of the chateau was in shadow in the afternoon so not the best lighting!

After the horse show, we visited the interior of the chateau. We had an hour before it closed, which was sufficient. The interior of the chateau is not quite as impressive as the outside; it was not furnished as like other hunting type of castles. The first floor was the rooms that had some furnishing:

The kitchen:

Then, we headed out to the courtyard to take those beautiful stairs up to the upper floors:

The corridor is filled with deer antlers:

On our way up to the top balconies, you can see the details of the architecture:

The infamous double helix staircase!

The balcony has a great view of the landscape surrounding the chateau:

The garden was huge but not many flowers compared to other chateaus.

There were quite a lot of visitors at that time of the day, and we were lucky that there was a minute where the tour group left to capture this photo!

See how many visitors…but not too bad:

We walked around the balcony for photos:

Closer look at the double helix staircase:

I asked Jason to take the other side of the stairs so the kids can see him but we never cross paths 😀

The visit always ended at the gift shop, my daughter picked out a very cute castle puzzle and it was not that expensive; less than €15. After the chateau visit, we walked along the river to take photos:

It was really hard to get both of my kids to look at the camera at the same time!

Afterward, we took our car and drove to Blois town center for our dinner at PHÒ41 Le Bouillon Việt’. We couldn’t drive in so we had to find parking along the river and then walk to town. We found a spot not far away so it wasn’t bad. The restaurant is small with a few tables and self-service. We ordered at the counter and then take whatever utensils and cups. Their prices were reasonable and the taste was okay, we didn’t have high expectations of Asian restaurants in a rural town.