Chinon

Chinon, an antique town in the French department of Indre-et-Loire, beautifully situated on the Vienne, 31 miles SW. of Tours by rail. Crowning a lofty rock are the ruins of its vast old castle, the 'French Windsor' of the Plantagenets, the death-place of Henry II.; and later the residence of several French sovereigns, where, in 1429, Joan of Arc revealed her mission to the Dauphin. A farmhouse across the Vienne is pointed out as Rabelais' birthplace. Pop. 4397.