MyStylery on tour: Me in front of the Château de Cheverny in the Loire Valley nearby the idyllic town of Blois

Once upon a time … that’s how my story today about the Château de Cheverny, which I just visited during my weekend at the Loire-valley, could begin. The castle, built in the renaissance style, is one of the biggest Loire castles and has been family-owned for over seven centuries. Albeit with a few disruptions, entanglements and confusions. But step by step.

The painted wooden ceilings by Jean Moniers impress me. It must have taken him a long time to paint this

Built from 1624 to 1640 by count Henri Hurault on the remains of the former castle, a certain Madame Diane de Poitiers decided to annex the Château. Resistance futile, Madame de Poitiers – who had just been removed out of her own castle Chenonceau by Catherine de Medici – was the mistress of Henri II. and therefore certainly had the upper hand. A century later the castle, temporarily acquired back by the Hurault family, fell into strangers hands once more. This time it was the heirs, who were a little shy on money to accept the costly inheritance. So they sold.

The dining hall is dominated by heavy oak furniture from the 19th century. Interesting: The walls are covered by leather, which has the family’s coat of arms imprinted. The silver-coated bronze chandelier above the dining table weighs considerable 100 kilos*

1825 Victor Hurault, Marquis de Vibraye and adjutant of King Charles X. brought the premises back into the family, where his descendants still live today. Namely in the right wing of the castle, which is made out of tuff. The rest – including a gorgeous 100 hectare castle park in English-style is open to the public.

The noble staircase of honor built in the style of Louis XIII. with garlands- and fruit-motives, emblems of the fine arts and a 25 (!) kilogram heavy knight’s armor from the 16th century

Such a castle doesn’t just look nice. It’s expensive. Continuously. To carry the costs, Philippe de Vibraye, great-uncle of the current owner decided to open the castle to the public. He was very progressive with this idea. Other noble families periodically sold their silverware to repair the holes in the roof from the proceeds. Since then Cheverny has been opened 365 days per year and with the splendid rooms, furnished mostly originally by Jean Monier is definitely worth a trip. BvH

Beautiful detail

Tip:

The ‘Tintin’ exhibition
Castle Cheverny inspired the Belgian cartoonist Hergé to his ‘Château de Moulinsart’ in the Tintin cartoons. Mentioned for the first time in 1942 in an adventure of the journalist ‘Tintin’, Château Moulinsart became the home of Tintin, Snowy, Professor Calculus, Captain Haddock, and Nestor, the butler. Since 2001 the permanent exhibition, domiciled in Cheverny shows Tintins room, Professor Calculus’ laboratory, as well as the cellar of Château Moulinsart.

In the great salon a harp from the 18th century, which is still being played today. The portrait above the fireplace shows Marie Johanne de la Carre Saumery, Countess of Cheverny

Mantelpiece in the armory

The arms room presents itself in its original state. It has never been restored. The collection of weapons and armors originates from the 15th, 16th, and 17th century. The gobelin tapestry from the 17th century belongs to the further treasures of the castle

Again magnificent ceiling paintings

King’s bedroom

The regal chambers for the King – here the bed canopysolely with precious fabrics – should he honor the castle with a visit

Did these amazing ceiling-portraits bestowed sweet dreams to the King?

The tableware ‘An Autumn in Cheverny’ had been designed especially for the Counts’ family. By the way, the idea, to set the forks with the fork arms upside down, has been introduced by Louis XV. He wanted to prevent, getting caught by the fork arms with his ruffled sleeves. Interesting?

Apropos: beds of this time aren’t so short because people were shorter then, but because one slept sitting, the lying position was reserved for the dead. Furthermore one was afraid to swallow ones’ own tongue

The children’s room with toys and wooden horses from the time of Napoleon III.

Amazing Weddingdress

The bedchamber with the bridal dress of the current Marquise Constance de Vibraye, a born Barbat du Closel, who married Charles-Antoine de Vibraye in this dress in 1994*

The boudoir

In the birth room mothers presented their newborn children. The mahogany-cradle is a rare Empire relic …

… With writing desk …

The library includes 2,000 books*

The castle’s own chapel

The Marquis and his family

Today the Marquis Charles-Antoine de Vibraye and his family live here

In its whole history Château de Cheverny has never been unoccupied

View from the south facade into the park

The English park with impressive and rare tree species, Paul de Vibraye had planted there from 1820 to 1860:

Linden, giant sequoia, and cedars

Impressing Landscape

At the ‘apprentices’ garden’ modern garden architecture is showcased since 2006

The castle is opened daily and has only been closed three times for a few hours: 1963 during the visit of the Queen Mom of England, 1976 for the burial of the Marquis de Vibraye and 1994 on the occasion of the marriage of the current owner Marquis Charles-Antoine de Vibraye

Today the orangery from the 18th century accommodates a beautiful café for visitors of the Château

At the moment the garden presents itself in a autumnal explosion of colors: Magnificent

The southern facade of the Château is decorated with busts of roman emperors, the northern facade is held in the style of Louis XIII. with plastered walls

Artpiece in front of the castle

Modern Art in the Park

The stables of Cheverny

The last hydrangeas of the summer

As a farewell the horses say “adieu”

Contact:

Château de Cheverny
41700 Cheverny, France
www.chateau-cheverny.fr

Featured pic and pics marked* by Château de Cheverny

The post Château de Cheverny – A Dream Castle in the Loire Valley appeared first on My Stylery.

The 200 years old manor Le Manoir de Contres, built in the style of Louis XII, is nowadays a charming hotel with eights rooms and a separate pavilion

I love France! The language and culture, and not to forget the food! And when the best friends invite you for a weekend to France into the valley of the Loire to celebrate a special wedding day, then this is très chic and lets my heart leap with joy. Especially now in autumn when the nature turns into a blaze of color and the sun still caters for warm moments under blue sky.

Hotelier-couple Maria and Victor Orsenne, the ‘Chef de cuisine’*

About two hours by car in the southwest from Paris lies the Manoir de Contres, a family-run, down-to-earth hotel in a 200 years old, charming manor that is owned by Victor Orsenne and his wife Marie – the sister of my friend and host – and is ideally the trailhead for diverse trips into the cultural assets and small, idyllic places along the countryside of the Loire.

The terrace in the garden, beautiful for a breakfast in the morning sun, in the summer there’ll be BBQ for lunch, in the evening with an aperitif

Someone lucky starts the day with a coffee in the sun on the wonderful terrace of the Manoir de Contres. And listens to the small anecdotes, which Victor, the patron, has to tell, whilst enjoying homemade marmalade, delicious croissants and fresh fruits: how he, a French, got to know Maria, a native of Hamburg, in a hotel management school in the Swiss Lausanne. How both of them led two small boutique-hotels in Paris and someday asked themselves, whether life offers something new. When the manor in the little town Contres, which was previously inhabited, was on offer; the Orsennes didn’t hesitate long, renovated all eight rooms. Adieu metropolis, bonjour country life. This happened four years ago and was a good decision.

Whilst the fire place crackles, I look at the for the region typical, colorful ceiling paintings*

Because the Val de Loire in the heart of France is a popular travel-region, not only for gourmets and wine lovers, but also for fans of the French cuisine. More than 300 castles and fortresses – built by emperors, kings and the French aristocracy from different epochs – of which about 100 can still be visited, string together, like pearls on a cord.

The last summer flowers from the hotel’s internal park

At this time of the year the endless columns of bus-tourists already left, one has the region mostly for oneself. Famous is the Château de Chambord, former hunting castle of Louis XIV, which is the biggest château at the Loire under the renaissance castles with its 400 rooms, crenellation and towers on the largest park-area Europe’s with 5.440 hectares. But there’re also some real insider tips, in which one can amble along the halls just by oneself and seems to hear the haunting castle ghost giggling behind the screen. For example the Valençay or the castle Cheverny (more soon). Indeed there’s a numerous amount of castles that are lead and inhabited by aristocratic families since generations.

View on the one-hectare big park with its old tree population*

In order to get not sick of all the castles I recommend to narrow down the choice to a couple of castles – otherwise you’ll end up with a real castle-marathon: it’s best to focus on one to two castles per day. Then in the evening you’ll still be able to assign the castles that you saw during the day.

The restaurant of the Manoir de Contres, in which one can excellently dine*

Apropos evening: Victor, the Maître of the Manoir is a gifted cook and his magic arts at the stove are not only reserved for this hotel guests. We got spoiled by a salad of green beans and crayfish tails, followed by scallops with rose pepper, veal medallions in clear estragon sauce and the delicious potato gratin, which I ate. In conclusion goat cheese from the Loire valley and ‘Framboisier du Manoir’ out of white chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries. Accompanied by wonderful wines from the in-house, comprehensive cellar of the Manoir de Contres and its perfect, attentive service, which couldn’t be better even in four- or five-start-hotels: Savoir vivre! What else could you wish for? BvH

Et voilà, le menu:

Scallops with rose pepper …

… followed by veal medallion and potato gratin …

… and ‘Framboisier du Manoir’ out of white chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries. As you can see, I already have tried it

Bon appétit!

View from my room

The pavilion

Portal of the Manoir de Contres: this is where we sadly have to say ‘au revoir’!

Exclusive tips by Maria Orsenne …

… for a perfect day in and around Contres. How about a trip to the famous limestone caves, the so called ‘caves-troglodytiques’, in which different wineries store their wines, for example the winery  Monmousseau with its wonderful Crémants near Château de Chenonceau. The wine tastings take place inside the illuminated rock caves.

Learn more about the famous limestone caves: ‘caves-troglodytiques’

A friendly lunch address is the ‘Les Trois Marchands’ in Cour-Cheverny. From there you can drive onwards to the chocolate manufactory Max Vouché in Bracieux (near Chambord). On the weekend it’s worth to visit the Sunday market in Amboise between 8 am and 1.30 pm directly at the shore of the Loire with up to 200 market stands. What will you find there? Everything!

Lunch address: ‘Les Trois Marchands’ in Cour-Cheverny

More information: maxvauche-chocolatier

Château de Chambord, the biggest château at the Loire, with its 400 rooms, crenellation and towers on the largest park-area Europe’s Château de Chambord

Contact:

Le Manoir de Contres
23, Rue des Combattants d’Afrique en AFN
41700 Contres, France
www.manoirdecontres.com

Don’t miss:

The castle posts about Cheverny and Valençay. Soon on MyStylery!

Featured pic and pics marked* by Giacomo Morelli

The post Savoir Vivre in the Loire Valley appeared first on My Stylery.