Sologne: a-hunting we will go

The Sologne's rivers and towns

Michael Paul

Blois cathedral in the Sologne region of France

The Sologne's numerous rivers include the Cosson, the Cher and the Beuvron, and at many small market towns there is access to long, deserted walks along associated canals; a good example is the path at Villefranche-sur-Cher. You will find 'Joan of Arc slept here' notices  and statues in her memory in many of these villages, as this was the region where the saint marked early victories over English armies.

One hundred years later, it was at Amboise, Blois and Chambord that the Italian Renaissance first reached France, and Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life in the Sologne, serving François I until his death in 1519. The king valued the company of Leonardo so highly that he constructed a secret tunnel between his medieval castle at Amboise and Clos Lucé, the artist's home, in order to spend more time incognito with his wizard.