The Ladies' Château

More than 300 ornate châteaux are scattered throughout the Loire Valley, many of whose walls rise right next to the river Loire and its tributaries—or over them, as in the case of Château de Chenonceau. Built like an arch bridge right above gently flowing waters, Chenonceau is the second-most visited château in France after the Palace of Versailles. The section that spans the river Cher was added in the 1550s on the order of Diane de Poitiers, a mistress of Henry II to whom he gifted the estate. De Poitiers was one of several wealthy women who improved the castle over the centuries, lending it the nickname Château de Dames—the Ladies' Château.