Sologne: Chambord, Ponds and Forests

Three days in the Sologne, a country of ponds and forest made by human hands: its roughly three thousand pools were dug in the Middle Ages for fish farming. The route starts at Chambord, the largest Loire chateau with its four hundred and forty rooms and the double-helix staircase attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, then the Ciran estate, a wildlife conservatory, the Etang du Puits and its birdwatching hide, Cheverny which inspired Herge's Marlinspike Hall, and finally Romorantin-Lanthenay and its Sologne museum. This is a landscape of heath, birch and mist. Chambord's park, enclosed by thirty-two kilometres of wall, is best explored by bike or boat. The deer rut, from mid-September to mid-October, can be heard on guided outings.