Whatagain and some in Richelieu

[whatagain]

Richelieu is a small town in Loire, close to Chatellereault.

Founded around 1630, from scratch, and built in 20 years, following a very geometrical pattern. 



By the Cardinal of Richelieu.

[whatagain]

Main square



An entrance door. The whole town is walled. 

Main street. Each house of the street is a 'hotel particulier'. 

With a courtyard inside. 

In this one they built a chapel. 

[whatagain]

The castle has been razed in XIX but some buildings remain. 

The park is quite big. There used to be more swans but some idiots slaughteted a few for fun recently. 

Inside the church. My wife got a full and lengthy explanation of how the organ works. 

The church in itself is meh, but i like some glassworks. 

[whatagain]

There was a brocante. In the old 'halles'. 



And here was a wine tasting. The guys love to create tunnels, dig rooms etc. 

We spent a fantastic moment. 

[bjd]

It all looks very bourgeois. Good to know you had a good time.

[kerouac2]

One thing I find interesting is that even though the town looks nice, it has not yet been "valorisée" (enhanced) -- the central square still serves as a car park (as they all did when I was a little boy), the courtyards have unattended weeds, and the old halles have not had their beams treated. Considering the size of the town (I looked up the population: 1678.), this isn't surprising since all of that costs bundles of money.

But one wonders why the town never really grew. Wikipedia says that Cardinal Richelieu had the town built in the first part of the 17th century surrounded by walls and moats, and La Fontaine at the time called it "the most beautiful town in the universe." Richelieu made the town tax free to attract residents, but when the cardinal died, the village was abandoned for about one hundred years. I guess they had nobody to whom they could turn to fix the streets or the plumbing.

In any case, it was very well built since everything seems to have survived in good shape, except the château of course. I'm sure it outshines by far the surrounding towns, which did not have one of the most important people in France financing their construction.

The population is only half of what it was at the beginning of the 19th century. Weird.

[whatagain]

Not so weird that people left.
There are just no jobs around, no industry, no good connections to major cities etc.
I would bet that more peipke will cone now that homeworking is more accepted, but still.

[tod2]

I never knew there was a town in France called Richlieu or if I did it did not capture my interest. With this report from Whatagain I looked up some facts about our brandy that has the name Richlieu.

Definitions of Richelieu. French prelate and statesman; principal minister to Louis XIII (1585-1642) synonyms: Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, Duc de Richelieu. example of: archpriest, hierarch, high priest, prelate, primate. a senior clergyman and dignitary.

[whatagain]

From Ruchelieu, Chenonceau is 30 min away. 


Maman je t'aime moment before going inside.



The façade with the entrance



Tbe wooden door.

One side if the castle. The river is the Cher. 

Same side, further away. 

The other side. River still the Cher on that side too. 

From further away, overlooking some gardens. 

[whatagain]

The corps de garde. I guess the soldiers wanted some warmth. 

Quite nice door. 

The reception hall. We are above the water here. 

View from a window of the hall. 

A room. Of a princess. 

Tbe kitchen, one floor below the hall. 

With a big oven.

Close up of the oven. 

Another room of another princess. 

Close up of the roof. 

[whatagain]

The house of the gardener. I could become a gardener to live there. 

The personal pharmacy of Catherine de Medicis. 

They had coaches too. 

I prefer these. No passenger, but useful.

The vegetable garden. Colorfull. 

[fumobici]

Very impressive. I particularly love the reception hall spanning the water. Bravo!

[bixaorellana]

So interesting, Whatagain, and your photos are beautiful. I'm probably operating off a misconception, but I was surprised to see that there was a town in France named Richelieu. Of course I know that the Cardinal was modern & far-seeing for his time, but I would have thought that the double whammy of his clericalism and ties to the monarchy would have made the name unwelcome after the Revolution.

It's fascinating that he built a tax-free town. I'd love to know more about the motivations and the history.

Chenonceau is gorgeous & must have the best moat ever. I can see myself in a nice place like that.

[kerouac2]

Chenonceau is always delightful and one thing that most people don't know is that it is still privately owned. That implies that there is still a family lurking somewhere in the private areas that the public never sees. (Not that we would want to see a room with a wide screen TV and leather sofas instead of dainty period furniture.)

The government still pays for a lot of the upkeep, though, since the building is classified as a national monument.

[tod2]

Lovely photos Whatagain. My pick is the Gardeners house and the Medicis pharmacy. You have two dolls Whatagain!

[kerouac2]

I think the Médicis apothecary looks absolutely spectacular. I saw that it dates from... 2019. But it took them 3 years to assemble it with wood imported from Italy. In any case, it is a delightful addition which I hope to see one of these days since of course it wasn't there during my last visit.

[whatagain]

We were also half an hour of Azay le Rideau, but in another direction. 

The courtyard, with a view on the staircase. 

Looks majestuous. 

There was this damned weir 😄 just nearby, to regulate the waterflow.
Good idea, there was no smell of stagnant water. 

View from the second floor. The chimneys are decorated. 

The staircase. 

And the attic. Just splendid. And not often open for a visit. 

[whatagain]

The interior is also completely furnished.
The bed of a princess, i would bet she slept half sitting, like was often the case, in the belief it avoided death during sleep. 

The reception hall, on the chimney the salamander of François 1er. The salamander was said to be able to live in fire and create, feed or stop them. 

Another room, cosier, with fireplace, rugs and splendid ceiling. 

A billiard room. Not sure it existed at the origin.

And again fantastic kitchen. 

And the dining room. Ready for use. 

[whatagain]

And 8 hours of an uneventful journey, back on the Med.
View from our favorite creperie.

[bjd]

As much as I am not really interested in visiting castles, these on the Loire are certainly worth it. Probably even nicer in summer when the gardens are full of colour. The timberwork in the attic is spectacular.

[bixaorellana]

Wow ~ more beauty! The Château d'Azay-le-Rideau is impressive and I was surprised by how furnished it is. That does make sense, though, as any inhabited house would accumulate furniture and comforts over time. You are so right that the attic is impressive and of course fascinating, too, as it's the underpinning of that magnificent roof.

Gorgeous as the house is, my favorite picture is the one where you wrote:

Nov 4, 2021 9:48:09 GMT whatagain said:

There was this dam just nearby, to regulate the waterflow.

Just be be pedantic, that kind of dam is a weir. You might enjoy this

Nov 4, 2021 9:53:42 GMT whatagain said:

A billiard room. Not sure it existedcat the origin.

Naturally I had to look that up & found that At around 1500s French nobility and others began installing billiards tables in their homes. Since this château was built between 1518 & 1527, the billiard room very well could be original. source

[tod2]

Great photos Whatagain! Brought back my memories of the walk I did with a girlfriend in the Loire. Our hotel Le Grand Monarque was in Rue Republic near the Chateau but because the Chateau was in a lower area and was hidden from view, we walked straight along the main road out of town for mile upon mile looking for it. We had had a nice lunch with a bottle of Rose wine - Along the road I had to pee so made off into the roadside bush only to trip and fall with my pants around my ankles.....We could have cried when we saw how close to the hotel it was. That night we were too tired to go and see the nightly Lazer Light Show.
The second trip with my husband was much better as we spent time in the chateau and out in the gardens.
Thank you for the super photo's for me to remember it all again!

[whatagain]

Good i wasn't drinking whilst reading your post 🤣🤣🤣🤣