We drive to Amboise on the banks of the Loire, where we visit the Royal Château d’Amboise, a royal residence of the Kings of France for 200 years. Amboise is a bustling little town, most often visited for its imposing royal Château d’Amboise, built in the 15th century and the first structure in France to reflect the influence of the Italian Renaissance. Charles VIII, France’s first Renaissance king, built his château on a rocky spar separating the valleys of the Loire and Amasse. Amboise became the residence of the queen and her children. Catherine de Medici loved Amboise and lived there.