Louis XI. for his favorite retreat, might be considered impregnable.
The castle, built of brick and stone, had nothing remarkable about it;
but it was surrounded by noble trees, and from its windows could be
seen, through vistas cut in the park (plexitium), the finest points of
view in the world. No rival mansion rose near this solitary castle,
standing in the very centre of the little plain reserved for the king
and guarded by four streams of water.

If we may believe tradition, Louis XI. occupied the west wing, and
from his chamber he could see, at a glance the course of the Loire,
the opposite bank of the river, the pretty valley which the Croisille
waters, and part of the slopes of Saint-Cyr. Also, from the windows
that opened on the courtyard, he saw the entrance to his fortress and
the embankment by which he had connected his favorite residence with
the city of Tours. If Louis XI. had bestowed upon the building of his
castle the luxury of architecture which Francois I. displayed
afterwards at Chambord, the dwelling of the kings of France would ever
have remained in Touraine. It is enough to see this splendid position
and its magical effects to be convinced of its superiority over the
sites of all other royal residences.

Louis XI., now in the fifty-seventh year of his age, had scarcely more
than three years longer to live; already he felt the coming on of
death in the attacks of his mortal malady. Delivered from his enemies;
on the point of increasing the territory of France by the possessions
of the Dukes of Burgundy through the marriage of the Dauphin with
Marguerite, heiress of Burgundy (brought about by means of Desquerdes,
commander of his troops in Flanders); having established his authority
everywhere, and now meditating ameliorations in his kingdom of all
kinds, he saw time slipping past him rapidly with no further troubles