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There is nothing medieval about the fittings and furnishings of the Chateau de Valencay , 20km southeast of St-Aignan on the main Blois-Chateauroux road (mid-March to June & Sept to mid-Nov daily 10am-6pm; July & Aug daily 9am-7pm; rest of year weekends only 10am-12.30pm & 1.30-5pm; 40F/?6.10): this proud and overbearing castle was built to show off the wealth of a sixteenth-century financier. Two hundred and fifty years later it was used to illustrate the power of Napoleon's France, as residence of the empire's foreign minister, the Prince de Talleyrand. The contrast of eras is one of the chief interests of Valencay. Inside the chateau there hangs a portrait of the minister, a great political operator and survivor, by Francois Bonneau. A bishop before the Revolution, with a reputation for having the most desirable mistresses, he proposed the nationalization of church property, renounced his bishopric, escaped to America during the Terror, backed Napoleon and continued to serve the state under the restored Bourbons. One of his tasks for the emperor was keeping Ferdinand VII of Spain entertained for six years here after the king had been forced to abdicate in favour of Napoleon's brother Joseph. The Treaty of Valencay, signed in the chateau in 1813, put an end to Ferdinand's forced guest status, giving him back his throne. The interior consequently is largely First Empire, with elaborately embroidered chairs on spindly legs, Chinese vases, ornate inlays and studdings to all the tables, finicky clocks and chandeliers: in short, the sort of furnishings dominated by strict rules of etiquette. Some of the Renaissance period rooms, however, in which it's easier to imagine more passionate and rougher lifestyles, are now open to the public. The chateau park (same hours as above; 8F/?1.22) keeps a collection of unhappy- looking camels, zebras, llamas and kangaroos, and there's also a car museum (same hours and ticket as the chateau), with pre-World War I Michelin maps and guides.
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