=Beaugency.=--Keep of castle eleventh century, other portions fifteenth century; Tour de l’Horloge, a picturesque gateway; churches of Notre Dame, twelfth century, and St. Étienne (disused), eleventh century or earlier; remains of town walls and a tower, and some old houses. =Chambord.=--The château, chiefly built by François I., is the largest and most magnificent hunting-box in the world. Commenced in 1519. =Bracieux.=--A little town in the marshy Sologne country with old houses, but no other interest. =Cheverny= has a château begun in 1634 by Philippe Hurault, a descendant of whom now owns the place. The village has a quaint, partially Romanesque church. =Beauregard.=--A château built as a hunting-lodge by François I. about 1520; almost entirely rebuilt in seventeenth century; modernized in 1809, but lately restored to its earlier character. (_Only to be seen with a permit from M. Lestang, notary of Blois._) =Blois= is a large and very attractive town on the Loire, dominated by its (1) historic Château, built at various periods from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries; (2) Cathedral, chiefly seventeenth century; (3) Church of St. Nicholas, an interesting Transitional building; (4) St. Vincent-de-Paul Jesuit church of seventeenth century; (5) St. Saturnin, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; (6) old houses of different periods, of stone and wood. =Chaumont-sur-Loire.=--The château was built about 1473; it stands on picturesque cliff above the village and river. =Amboise.=--A town on the Loire, chiefly famous for its fine château, perched on a rocky tongue that rises sheer from the level ground; mainly built by Charles VIII.; sloping staircases in two towers; lovely little Gothic chapel of St. Hubert; grave of Leonardo da Vinci; in the town (1) a picturesque clock gateway; (2) Hôtel de Ville, built 1500 to 1505; (3) Church of St. Florentin, built 1461 to 1483; (4) Church of St. Denis, a beautiful cruciform building of the Transitional period of early Gothic. =Chenonceaux.=--A pretty village near the famous and beautiful château of that name, built in the River Cher in 1515; finished by François I. and Catherine de Medici. =Bléré.=--A small town on the Cher with a curious, partially Romanesque church, and the Hôtel du Gouverneur, a Renaissance building in the Rue J. J. Rousseau. The simplest way to leave Orleans is to go to the bridge, and then turn to the right along the north bank of the Loire, which is followed as far as Beaugency.