Returning to Cour Cheverny, where the church has a tall and slender spire, and an early Pointed doorway with a toothed moulding, one goes straight on through the village and the forest of Russy (passing on the left the Château Beauregard) to the picturesque and historic town of BLOIS On crossing the bridge over the Loire one looks upward at the great castle on its inaccessible rock, the centre of a vast feudal power in the Middle Ages, and the scene of callous intrigue and murder in the latter part of the sixteenth century. It is not difficult to find the way up to the Château, which is a national monument, and is _open to the public at all reasonable hours_. The _east wing_ and entrance-front of the château, of red brick and stone, was built by Louis XII., probably while he was Duke of Orleans, and finished before his death in 1501. His emblem--the porcupine--can be seen above the little door on the right of the archway, above which is an equestrian statue of Louis XII.--a modern work, taking the place of the old one destroyed in the Revolution. This wing now contains the Museum and Picture Gallery. The _north wing_ was built by François I. between 1516-1525. François I., while transforming the exterior, kept one of the towers of the old fortress, [Illustration: TOWN PLAN NO. 9.--BLOIS.] whose dungeons served as prisons; the west wing, later demolished by Gaston d’Orléans; and also the _Grande Salle de Justice_, known later as the Salle des États, from the États généraux held there in 1576 and 1588. This hall united the new wing to the old one of Louis XII. It is a thirteenth-century building, with its roof supported by eight [Illustration: PLAN OF THE NORTH SIDE OF THE CHÂTEAU OF BLOIS. On the first floor are the rooms of Catherine de Medici, and above are those of Henri III., the scene of the historic murder of Henri, Duc de Guise. 5 V, the Council-hall, and VI the fireplace at which Guise warmed himself. The dotted line shows the way Guise left the Council-hall for the Cabinet Vieux, where the King (Henry III.) awaited him. XVIII, the narrow passage in which Guise was stabbed.] columns. The beautiful outside stone staircase is the most remarkable feature of this wing. On the _first floor_ are the rooms of Catherine de Medici, containing the bedroom where she died in 1589 and the _Tour des Oubliettes_--the ruined tower where the Cardinal de Guise (brother of Henri, Duc de Guise) and the Archbishop of Lyons were imprisoned. The Cardinal was assassinated the day after his brother just in the entry. The Archbishop was sent into exile.