On our recent trip to France we visited Chateau Beauregard in the Loire Valley. It is quite close to Blois. I picked it because although it isn't a well
known chateau I read reviews that said it was a small gem - a small chateau
still occupied by a noble family.
We forked
out 12.50 Euro for the visit (which afterwards we felt was not particularly good
value). The park is very beautiful. We walked through a nice garden where
little sections were devoted to different colours of flowers and plants. The
grounds cover 49 hectares – which is a lot of land.
About Chateau Beauregard - in the early 16h century King Francois I took ownership of it and turned
it into a hunting lodge. Hunting lodges are called Domaine in French
Only part
of the chateau itself is open to visitors. One of the first places you visit is
the kitchen. There are 2 huge
fireplaces. There is a fantastic collection of copper pans there - 85 pieces
Upstairs
is a lovely 'study of bells' (or library)
which was put in by Jean du Their, Secretary of State to King Henry II. It had
lovely oak woodwork. Behind the panels are fitted cupboards for the books. Books
in those days were so valuable that they were not left in open sight.
The Gallery of Portraits was
commissioned in 1617 by Henri IV's former treasurer. It housed the largest
collection of portraits known in Europe - 327 portraits. The gallery is also
paved with 17th century hand painted
Delft tiles. There are 5600 of them. It was very rare for tiles to be used as flooring.
One odd
thing was that hanging on the walls of 2 of the oldest rooms was a very
contemporary series of art works showing dog breeds. Talk about juxtaposition.
Gorgeous building.
ReplyDeleteLove all the copper pots and pans.
Thanks for sharing.