Château de Valençay
France > Loire > Cher > Valencay

One of the great political operators and survivors, Talleyrand owes his greatest fame to his post as Napoléon's foreign minister. A bishop before the Revolution, with a reputation for having the most desirable mistresses, he proposed the nationalization of church property, renounced his bishopric, escaped to America during the Terror, backed Napoléon and continued to serve the state under the restored Bourbons. One of his tasks for the emperor was keeping Ferdinand VII of Spain entertained for six years here after the king had been forced to abdicate in favour of Napoléon's brother Joseph. The Treaty of Valençay, signed in the Château in 1813, put an end to Ferdinand's forced guest status, giving him back his throne. The interior consequently is largely First Empire: elaborately embroidered chairs, Chinese vases, ornate inlays to all the tables, faux-Egyptian details, finicky clocks and chandeliers. A single discordant note is struck by the leg-brace and shoe displayed in a glass cabinet along with Talleyrand's uniforms – the statesman's deformed foot was concealed in every painting of the man, including the one displayed in the portrait gallery that runs the length of the graceful Neoclassical wing.

The Château park (same hours as above; €1.50) keeps a collection of unhappy-looking camels, zebras, llamas and goats, and there's a small, imaginative maze for which you'll need to understand some French in order to work out the riddling passwords that open the various doors – or ask for the answers at the ticket office. In the village, about 100m from the Château gates, a car museum (daily 10am–12.30pm & 1.30–6pm; €2.30) houses an excellent collection of sixty-odd mostly prewar cars.