In 1998, Henri Robert Ferdinand Marie Louis-Philippe of Orleans, Count of Paris, celebrated his 90th birthday at Amboise Castle overlooking the river Loire near Orleans. Amongst the 300 guests at the Chateau were Prince Rainier of Monaco, ex-king Michael I of Romania, and Otto von Habsburg of Austria.
The Loire River Valley (the largest in France) has about 80 castles which were built between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. When Charles VII chose nearby Chinon Castle as his palace in 1427, the valley flourished as the centre of politics and culture in France.
Castle Amboise, located 25km east of Tours, started life as a fortress in Roman times. Charles VII, who was greatly influenced by the culture of the Italian Renaissance, commissioned Italian architects, garden designers and painters for the re-construction of the castle.
King Francis I of France invited Leonardo da Vinci to spend the last years of his life in Amboise at the Court of France. In the autumn of 1516, Leonardo da Vinci arrived in Amboise with the Mona Lisa.
Leonardo lived in the small castle of Cloux (now known as Le Clos Luce) in Amboise. This small castle is situated between the town and Castle Amboise - the King's castle.
Already paralysed down his right side, Leonardo wrote his last will and testament on 23 April, 1519 and died 5 weeks later on 2 May. He was 67 years old.
Da Vinci was one of the supposed Grand Masters of a secret society that apparently guarded the Merovingian blood line.
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