For my last full day in Tours, I had reserved a spot on a tour to two chateaux I hadn’t yet visited, Usse and Langeais. I was in a fairly small group, which included a Mexican, a Brazilian family, the French driver, and another American, a student somewhat older than me.
Usse was much more of a tourist attraction than a real historical monument; its claim to fame is that its architecture inspired Charles Perrault to write “Sleeping Beauty” in the 17th century. There is even a rumor, the validity of which I am uncertain, that it was built only a few hundred years ago by a wealthy member of the bourgeoisie, who completely fabricated the chateau’s previous history, in order to grant it a sense of age and dignity.
According to the chronology provided by the chateau, the first resident was a Viking warrior, Gelduin (aka “the devil of Saum”), who built a wooden fortress on the land in 1004 (which seems a little bit late for the age of the Vikings). Succeeding him were the counts of Blois, and in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Valentinay family, who had close connections to the French royal family. The current edifice was built over several centuries, and an adept student of art history, while staring at the façade, can even distinguish three distinct periods (I am not a student of art history). Suffice to say that though there are many characteristically-Gothic vaulted ceilings, there are also classically-inspired pillars, and even a 17th-century staircase.
The castle had accumulated a pile of odds and ends from different periods and lands. There were weapons from India, including one specially-designed for the hunting of tigers; there was a 17th-century Italian cabinet with 49 hidden drawers; there was a series of 18th-century tapestries from Brussels, depicting a drawn-out version of the battle between David and Goliath; there was a lacquered Louis-Quinze cabinet.
Usse’s history was likewise eclectic, with some stories sounding more fantastic than historical. For instance, upon descending to the cellars, which resembled a stereotypical medieval dungeon, I read a placard announcing that in the 17th century, the Marquis de Valentiney had used them to practice alchemy. Louis XI apparently enjoyed hunting in the region, and Haile Sellassie, emperor of Ethiopia and the Rast Afari, was the most recent monarch to stay in the King’s Bedroom. Still the most interesting part of the chateau is the chapel, constructed in 1528 in Renaissance style. Dedicated to the virgin Saint Anne, who I think was Mary’s mother, the chapel still gleams white, in spite of the half-millennium that has passed. The source of this eternal youth is the building material, a variety of local stone known as tuffeau.
The next castle, Langeais, was as absorbing and historically interesting as Usse was shallow and scrambled. Mom, if you visit one chateau in France, it should be Langeais, which advertises itself as the best-furnished in the Loire Valley, and includes a room dedicated entirely to costume history. To give a brief chronology: the keep dates from 994; in 1428, Charles XI ordered most of the old construction razed, because it had been occupied too often be invaders; and in 1465, Louis XI raised a new castle, which bore the appearance of a military fortress, but was truly built as a royal residence. On December 6th, 1491, the castle witnessed the secret marriage of Charles VIII to Anne of Bretagne, and in 1904, Jacques Siegfried, an industrial magnate, having restored the castle and provided it with historically-accurate furniture, donated it to the public. M. Siegfried, apparently captivated by the tale of the clandestine royal wedding, insisted that Langeais be dedicated to the event, and the characters behind it. One can read, for instance, what Anne wore for her wedding: a white silk dress fringed gold, and a heavy cloak of ermine, bordered with black squirrel fur (I think I translated all of that correctly). The escutcheons and initials of the famous couple (who had never met) also decorate not only much of the furniture, but many of the tiles of the floor.
There is more to see at Langeais than at any other chateau I have visited, except Chambord, which is colossal. In one room, the table is laid for a feast, which, in the castle’s heyday, might have lasted ten hours. Unlike the modern French, who since the time of at least Louis XIV have eaten fruit at the end of a meal, the medieval French ate fruit at the beginning, believing that it opened and prepared the stomach for what was to come (the medieval menu was more acidic than the modern). There would be entertainment of all sorts during these massive parties; and if I understood the passing guide correctly, Langeais once had some pretty impressive gadgets installed in the dining room, for the purpose of entertaining diners. M. Siegfried made certain that the castle was well-furnished with fabulous late-medieval tapestries, mostly of wool, but a few of silk. Many had religious scenes, and one particularly lavish one depicted an enormous number of scenes from the bible: in one portion of the foreground, for instance, Abraham received royal guests, while in the background, was bound his son. Meanwhile, other rooms are reconstructed as bedchambers, with an eye to historical accuracy: for instance, the curtains of one room are knotted, which was the sign that one made to indicate that the owner was expecting and welcoming visitors.
Lastly, we stopped in a vineyard in sight of a third chateau. Luynes, build in the 14th century, was one of the last fortresses built in the Loire Valley, and saw some action during the Hundred Years’ War, the English even managing to capture it for some time. Luynes is privately owned, and the proprietors actually inhabit it, which seems absurd to me, at least in the wintertime. The current owners also own the hundred-year-old vineyard in which we stopped, and from which the other passengers began to sample.
For a moment, some current events. Today, I spent about six hours at the Louvre, prepared to meet Bruno tonight, took my first run in Paris, and finished reading Moliere’s Avare. I am never going to have enough time to do everything there is to do in this city!
~JD
“Apres mes chevaux, vous etes la personne que j’aime le plus” [After my horses, you are the person whom I love the most] (Moliere, l’Avare, Act III sc. I).
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