Grand Loire Expedition with AI Audio Guide

Stand beneath the soaring twin towers of this Gothic masterpiece. Use your camera to let Herodot AI decode the stained glass narrating the life of Joan of Arc.

Step into the reconstructed timber-framed house where the "Maid of Orléans" stayed. Your guide reveals the strategic military genius behind the teenage icon.

Admire this red-brick Renaissance mansion. Snap a photo of the bronze statue of Joan of Arc to hear about the royal receptions held in these very rooms.

Capture the grand equestrian statue at the city’s heart. Explore the surrounding cafes at your own pace while learning about the city's 1429 liberation.

Discover where the Loiret river is born. Your AI buddy explains the unique "resurgence" phenomenon of this underground spring.

Explore the "Castle of Two Faces"—part medieval fortress, part classical palace. Dive into the dark history of its underground dungeons.

Witness history meet light. Use the app to understand how this 11th-century keep evolved into a Renaissance residence.

Learn how the King’s favorite transformed this estate into a pinnacle of Enlightenment style.

Discover a castle where you can actually play. Snap the historical games in the courtyard to learn about 17th-century leisure.

Ask Herodot why this King chose a humble pilgrimage site over the royal necropolis.

Get your first glimpse of the 365 chimneys. Use your lens to identify the "Salamander" emblem of Francis I carved into the stone.

Known as the "Chambord construction hut." See the rare 16th-century Italian fountain and hear about the workers who built the giants.

Enter the "Gallery of Illustrious." Snap the 327 portraits to get a 15-minute crash course in 300 years of European history.

Watch the dragon emerge from the windows. Learn about Robert-Houdin, the father of modern magic who inspired Houdini.

Climb the decorated stairs for a panoramic view of the Loire.

Stand on the drawbridge of this fairy-tale fortress.

Walk the halls where Leonardo da Vinci spent his final days.

Stand at the balcony where kings watched the river.

Discover the "Forgotten Palace." Learn about the first orange trees brought to France from Italy.

Climb this 44-meter "folly" for a 360-degree view of the Amboise forest.

Witness the "Ladies' Castle" spanning the River Cher.

Descend into 15th-century wine cellars. Snap the dust-covered bottles to learn about the "King of Wines," Vouvray.

Your guide points out the "symphony in stone" detailing the evolution of French religious architecture over 400 years.

Capture the neo-Byzantine dome while Herodot AI tells the story of how Tours became a global pilgrimage hub.

Stand in what was voted "France’s most beautiful square." Snap the timber-framed houses to hear about 15th-century merchant life.

Your camera identifies the symbolic meanings behind the "Gardens of Love" hedges.

Capture the reflection of this "Isle of Stone" in the Indre River. Learn how it was built by a financier who lost everything to the King.

Walk the grounds where Rodin and Camille Claudel hid their forbidden romance. Use your lens to find the spots where "The Kiss" was inspired.

Stand before the towers that inspired Sleeping Beauty. Your AI buddy narrates the fairy tales of Charles Perrault hidden in the architecture.

Snap these giants brought from Lebanon in 1808. Learn about the Napoleonic era's obsession with exotic botany.

Cross the only working manual drawbridge in the Loire. Watch the re-enactment of the secret royal wedding that joined Brittany to France.

Explore the 500-meter-long walls where Joan of Arc first recognized the Dauphin. Hear the echoes of the Plantagenet kings.

Climb the narrow stairs. Snap the panoramic view of the Vienne valley while the app identifies the medieval city layout below.

Your guide explains how flat-bottomed boats once carried the region's "Black Gold" (tufa stone) to build the castles.

Descend into a quarry-turned-wine-cellar directly under the castle. Learn about the "Tufa" stone's role in aging Chinon’s red wines.

Learn about the "Gargantua" legends that still define French gastronomy.

Discover this half-hidden rock-cut chapel. Capture the 12th-century frescoes depicting a mysterious royal hunt.

Enter the largest monastic city in Europe. Stand before the effigies of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard the Lionheart.

Visit the only castle built directly on the Loire riverbed. Use your lens to see how the water level has changed over 500 years.

Discover the "Castle within a Castle." Your camera reveals a massive dry moat and a hidden underground fortress 30 feet below ground.

Capture the "Disney-like" turrets against the blue sky. Your guide explains why it was once called the "Castle of Love" in the Duke of Berry's manuscripts.

Snap a photo to learn the physics of the "Courbette" and "Cabriole" jumps.

See one of the world's largest collections of armored vehicles. Let your guide narrate the 1940 Battle of Saumur.

Use your app to navigate the "Sunken Cathedral"—an underground quarry carved into gothic arches.

See the Loire’s greatest monuments carved in miniature into the cave walls. Your camera "identifies" the real-life counterparts.

Your guide explains the mystery of how these 60-ton stones were moved.

Hear about the miracles that turned this riverside chapel into a royal destination for the Medici family.

Capture the classic "postcard view" of the castle while hearing about the river's shifting sands.

Snap the 17th-century wall paintings that cover entire galleries.

Your guide reveals why it has "two faces" and tells the legend of the "Green Lady" ghost.

Use your camera to identify the original signatures of French kings and Napoleon.

Your guide explains the use of schist and limestone for psychological warfare.

Learn how this architectural style differs from the Gothic style of Paris.

Find the "Tree of Life" carving with your lens.

Contrast this 20th-century masterpiece with the medieval one you saw at the castle.

Snap the white plaster sculptures to learn about the man who carved the heroes of the Pantheon.

Hear about the theater that burned down three times and the "rallying" of the people.

Use your camera to find the "Empress Josephine" rose collection.

Hear the story of the river tolls and the sailors who risked their lives on the "Wild River."

Snap the "Butterfly Aviation" house and hear about the family that has owned the estate for 1,000 years.

Learn how the Edict of Nantes changed the history of religious freedom.

Hear the story of how the cathedral survived a fire in 2020 and the massive restoration efforts.

Your guide explains its role as a "temple of consumption" during the Industrial Revolution.

Your AI buddy explains the engineering inspired by Jules Verne and Da Vinci.

Snap the "giant crab" to hear about the deep-sea monsters of Verne's imagination.

Dive into the mind of the man who predicted the moon landing and submarines.

Snap the "biscuit tower" and learn about Nantes’ industrial rebirth.

Hear why the houses were painted with leftover boat paint.

Hear the legends of sea monsters.

Your guide narrates the "Golden Age" of transatlantic travel from Nantes to New York.

Use your camera to see how the sun and wind create the "white gold" of France.

The inspiration for Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

See the oldest keep in France and a royal wedding re-enactment.

A gem of the early Renaissance set on an island.

The secret love nest of Camille Claudel and Rodin.

The "Castle of Love" overlooking the equestrian capital.

The only castle built directly in the Loire riverbed.