Saturday 13 September 2014

Chateau Beauregard

Chateau Beauregard by Carole's Chatter
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. 
Chateau Beauregard by Carole's Chatter

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.
 
Chateau Beauregard by Carole's Chatter

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 
Chateau Beauregard by Carole's Chatter

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 
Chateau Beauregard by Carole's Chatter

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. 
Chateau Beauregard by Carole's Chatter

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.
Chateau Beauregard by Carole's Chatter

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.
 
The current family have only owned Chateau Beauregard since 1925

1 comment:

  1. Gorgeous building.

    Love all the copper pots and pans.

    Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

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