The first chateau we visited was Clos Lucé. King Frances I invited Leonardo da Vinci to France as a special guest and gave this mansion to da Vinci to live. The king lived in the Royal Chateau d’Amboise nearby. These chateaux were connected by an underground passage (which has since collapsed, but we were able to see the entrance in the basement of Clos Lucé). They became good friends, and the king would often escape his day-to-day duties and travel through the tunnel to visit da Vinci. Leonardo brought the Mona Lisa with him when he came to France, that is why it is there today and not in Italy where da Vinci lived most of his life.

Leonardo da Vinci lived in this mansion for three years, until he died in 1519. He is buried at the Royal Chateau where the king was living.

Today, the Clos Lucé mansion is a museum that reflects the prestigious history of the region and includes forty models of the various machines designed by Leonardo. These inventions include steam cannons, an armored tank, another cannon with multiple barrels, hydraulic inventions, naval inventions (such as dual-paned ship hauls and hauls shaped like fish for easier access through the water), mechanical and aeronautic inventions (such as helicopters, airplanes, and parachutes). He invented a car, clocks, and many more things still used today. Leonardo was remarkable genius!