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Heated Outdoor Swimming Pool
Huge
Gardens
8 tennis courts opposite the hotel
Fly over the chateaux by plane, helicopter or ballooning
Canoeing and Kayaking
Cruise on the Loire |
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THE HISTORY OF LE CHOISEUL |
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 Le
Choiseul is made up of three houses dating from the 15th and 18th
centuries:
The Maison de l'Ermite: François de Paule, a Calabrian hermit came
to Amboise at the request of Louis XI and founded the congregation
of the Minimes in the 15th century. The present house is built on
the foundations of the old convent.
The Maison du Duc was given by Louis XV to Etienne François Duc de
Choiseul, the Minister of Finance and the Army before he, having
become rich and important, built a "little Versailles": the Château
de Chanteloup, a short distance away.
The Maison de l'Apothicaire in which Jehan de Gastignon, herbalist
to Charles VII and Francis 1st, prepared creams and unguents for the
ladies of the court. He was given a large part of the property,
including the cellars and several "Granaries" which border the back
of the estate, by the King. The granaries include 3 rooms, one of
which is 90 metres long and 4 silos 4 metres long with double walls
which were used to store wheat. They were used as "Tithe Barns".
Before the French Revolution, a tenth of the harvest was paid over
to the church or the local lord.
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ABOUT AMBOISE |
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Amboise
is on the banks of the Loire in the center of vineyards known as
Touraine-Amboise. This is still a real Renaissance town. That's the
go od news. The bad news: Because it is so beautiful, tour buses
overrun it, especially in summer. Many townspeople still talk about
Mick Jagger's purchase of a nearby château. An earlier resident was
Leonardo da Vinci, who spent his last years here.
The region around Amboise has recently been accented with
attractions that resemble a mix of Disney's Magic Kingdom and the
court of the Renaissance kings.
The most frequently visited attraction lies 9.5 Kms. (6 miles) west
of Amboise, the Aquarium de Touraine, Parc des Mini-Châteaux. It
contains more than 10,000 freshwater and saltwater fish, including
about a half-dozen sharks, live within replicas of their natural
habitats.
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