Francois I, King of France, decided to move his capital from Paris to Romorantin about forty miles away from Amboise.

He planned to raze the old town, replace it with a grand city and make Romorantin the capital of France in honour of his mother, Louise of Savoy.

Mother and son were devoted to each other. Whenever he was away from Chateau Amboise, she stayed in her favourite château in Romorantin.

There was only one man in France who could design his new city.

Leonardo embraced the project with gusto. It meant he could showcase his talents as an architect and engineer.

Leonardo’s inspiration for the design of, for want of a better word, a tank, was the shell of the great turtle.

Web sites state Leonardo was a sculptor. He wasn’t.

Use any search engine for images of his sculptures. You won’t find any because there are none.

Leonardo da Vinci invented pastels.

The why, how and when behind this fact is fascinating.

His invention came about because France invaded Italy in 1499.

Named in honour of Doctor Bretonneau (1778–1862), a genius epidemiologist. He performed the first successful tracheotomy (entrance into the trachea through the muscles of the neck); successfully treated children suffering from rickets by feeding them cod-liver oil; made the clinical distinction between scarlet fever and diphtheria to which he gave its name; distinguished between typhoid and typhus; studied smallpox and introduced inoculation in the districts around Tours; was the first to realise that disease is caused by bacteria; discovered that the same illness manifests itself differently in different patients.

Rue Nationale (formerly Rue Napoleon).

The most famous Frenchman of all time, Napoléon (the acute accent seems to be arbitrary) Bonaparte (1769-1821) is one of the most controversial leaders in history.

Philosopher, author, composer and botanist, Rousseau (1712–1778) influenced the sociological, educational and cultural thought of eighteenth century Europe.

He was born into a family of watchmakers in Geneva. His parents were French but were exiled to Switzerland because they were Protestants. His mother died nine days after his birth, his father died when Jean-Jacques was ten. When he was sixteen, Rousseau left Switzerland to travel around France.

The son of a lawyer, François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778) was known by his nom de plume Voltaire. Poet, philosopher, playwright, historian, biographer, pamphleteer, outspoken, controversial writer with a sharp, often cruel, wit. He had strong opinions on just about everything. He was scathing about Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic Church. He wanted freedom of religion, freedom of speech and the separation of church and state. Often vilified, he could never have imagined the posthumous recognition he would receive.