Saturday, February 18, 2017

Lady Of The Castle(s)

Wandering Around Cottage - February 2017 Edition


If you're a regular reader, you'll remember that a few days ago I went to visit a medieval castle located about an hour and half from Cottage. I thought it would be perfect for my monthly "Wandering Around" post. But I was a little disappointed when I found out that there was only one wall left of the tower... If you're curious and you've missed it, you can have a look at it here.


Si vous êtes un lecteur régulier, vous vous souviendrez qu'il y a quelques jours, je me suis rendue dans un village à une heure et demie de Cottage pour y visiter un château médiéval. Je pensais que cela serait parfait pour mon article mensuel "tourisme". Mais j'ai été bien déçue car si les ruines étaient superbes, il n'en restait que très peu. Si vous avez manqué cet article, vous pouvez y jeter un coup d’œil ici.


Anyway, no need to worry, I'm quite the lady of the castles and I'm a few visit ahead from the posts I write, so I have an other castle from the same period to show you today. As it's also very old, it's damaged and mostly ruins, but there's a lot more to it. I actually had a hard time choosing from my pictures, so there are lots in this post!


Enfin, pas d'inquiétude, je suis assez "vie de château" et j'ai quelques visites d'avance sur mes articles : il me suffit de plonger dans mes archives pour trouver un autre château médiéval à vous faire admirer aujourd'hui. Il est tout aussi vieux, un peu démoli par le temps, mais il a encore beaucoup à offrir, à tel point que j'ai fait trop de photos et qu'il m'a été difficile de choisir celles à intégrer à l'article.

 
You know how all my "Wandering Around" begin with a map to locate the place I'm taking you to? I've decided not to tell you where we're going today. You'll try to guess. I'll give you a few hints at the end of the post. Now, don't do like my pupils and go straight to the end, ok?


Vous avez sûrement remarqué que je suis très méthodique - mon côté professeur - et que je commence chaque article "tourisme" par une carte pour situer les lieux. Pas aujourd'hui. Je ne vais rien vous dire et ce sera à vous de deviner l'endroit. Il y aura des indices à la fin. Ne faites pas comme les élèves et n'allez pas directement en bas de la page, hein ?


There was a castle on this site since the 11th century. But then it was built in wood, with a wooden fence. That was replaced by a stone wall in the following century.


Un château se dresse en ce lieu depuis au moins le XIe siècle. Évidemment, il était au départ en bois avec une palissade, puis il a été reconstruit en pierre et ceint d'une muraille au cours du siècle suivant. 


In 1206, the castle was conquered by  John Lackland, King of England, the one described as the "villain" in Robin Hood's legends.


En 1206, le château est pris par Jean Sans Terre, roi d'Angleterre, le fameux "méchant" dans les légendes de Robin des Bois.


The castle is located in a spot that was very important and was often under attack, so it was remodelled several times and at some point a barbican was added. You can see it  on the above picture : it's like an inside courtyard with an inside drawbridge, the first one I had ever seen. So if invaders managed to get pass the first walls, they still couldn't make it to the living buildings.


Le château étant situé à un endroit stratégique, il a été modifié plusieurs fois pour améliorer la sécurité.  Ainsi, deux photos au-dessus, vous pouvez admirer la barbacane, une cour intérieure avec un pont levis intérieur. C'était la première fois que j'en voyais une en si bon état. Ainsi, si les envahisseurs passaient au-delà des murailles, les parties habitées du château étaient encore protégées.


The castle was burnt, along with many houses in the village, in 1793, during the First French Revolution, by the Republican army. So there isn't much left of the inside buildings. But above you can see the "utilitarian" building.  On the ground floor was the kitchen: you can still see the huge fireplace and the sink, below (complete with a modern hose, which I found very distracting...)


Le château, ainsi que de nombreuses maisons du village, ont été incendiés en 1793 par les armées républicaines. Il ne reste donc pas grand chose des bâtiments intérieurs. Néanmoins, il y a de beaux restes et l'on reconnaît bien le bâtiment dans lequel était située, au rez-de-chaussée, la cuisine. On y devine l'immense cheminée et un superbe évier... garni actuellement d'un tuyau d'arrosage moderne beaucoup moins élégant...


But what is really fascinating is what's left of the lord's buildings.  The pavement must have been very impressive. And can you just imagine how the rooms on each floor must have looked with their huge carved fireplaces, wooden floors, colourful tapestries on the walls...


Le plus impressionnant demeure le bâtiment seigneurial qu'il faut imaginer dans toute sa splendeur d'antan avec ses immenses cheminées, ses trois étages, ses tentures colorées fixées sur les murs et ses magnifiques fenêtres à meneaux.


The part of the castle that is more modern (think 15th century) is well preserved and was perfectly rebuilt. It seems it was used as a women's prison for a while in the 18th century.


Deux tours, plus récentes - enfin, elles datent tout de même du XVe siècle - situées à l'extrémité ouest du château, sont bien conservées et ont été rénovées. L'une d'elles semble avoir servi de prison pour femmes au XVIIIe siècle. 

Now, about the location of this castle. As usual, castles are built on a spot where they can overlook their surroundings. So here are a few examples of what you can see from the castle. Red tile roofs, many square shaped buildings and more columns than you can wish for. Don't forget to notice the blue, blue sky...


Bon alors, où est-il ce château ? Comme tous les forts médiévaux, il est situé en hauteur, ce qui permet de voir les environs... Et voilà ce que l'on aperçoit du chemin de ronde : des toits en tuiles rouges à perte de vue, des bâtiments aux formes carrées, des colonnes comme s'il en pleuvait... Et avez-vous remarqué ce ciel bleu-bleu ?


So where are we ? You can guess in the comments... Answer in the next post...

Alors où sommes-nous ? Vous pouvez laisser votre idée dans les commentaires... Réponse la prochaine fois...

See you next time,

A la prochaine fois,

Hasta la proxima,


33 comments:

  1. ahhhh....swoon, love, WOW! The older the better, in my opinion. More ghosts of history to ponder and entertain on those quiet promenades. LOVELY!

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  2. beautiful runs of an old castle - I love looking at things like that but here in the states instead of old castles we find old settlements from the 1700-1800's old forts, log cabins and the like - nothing as impressive as a castle! from a little bit of research on John, King of England to see what he was up to in that time period) I would say this is south of an area called Poitou where he fought a battle in an area called Gascony?

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  3. I love your tours of these old castles, Magali. I am always so amazed at how these were built without the use of machinery that we have today. I would guess that it's in Normandy somewhere but I really don't know.

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  4. It must be nice to have so many old castles around. I miss that about living in Europe. I know nothing of French history, though, besides the Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, so I can't guess where you are.

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  5. How interesting about Robin Hood! I love reading facts such as these. It's so much fun to imagine what it must have been like to live back then. It's wonderful that you live near so many old castles!


    XXX

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  6. Hi...that was a lovely tour an i have no idea where you were..but..i sure would Love to go there some day..that view of the village was spectacular..an the hose was a bit odd..i was also thinking about what it must have been like being a kid growing up there..i thought about how Beautiful the inside must have been back then too..an the grounds looked quite Beautiful in the photos..i meant to ask you how far away you are from the castle that couple from AU has been renovating..i haven't gotten an emails from them lately.

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  7. It's still very impressive. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to construct these huge buildings of stone in those days.

    Thank you for the tour!

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  8. I really enjoy your tours. How lovely the castles are and your Cottage.
    Here in the USA, every thing is relatively new! Lynn

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    1. I'm glad you enjoy those posts! I always have my camera with me when I go somewhere, thinking maybe my readers would love to see a new... or old place!

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  9. Il me semble reconnaître des maisons de style un peu italien derrière le château ? Ne serait-ce pas du côté de Cesson ? J'ai gagné ? J'attends la réponse avec impatience.

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  10. Beautiful post Magali. I do not get a chance to see castles here in Northern US. Very informative post and great photos. I truly enjoyed reading this post. Thank you!

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  11. Beautiful post Magali. I do not get a chance to see castles here in Northern US. Very informative post and great photos. I truly enjoyed reading this post. Thank you!

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  12. Close to the sea? Across the English channel? I'm telling you Magali, beautiful structures were built centuries ago and my opinion, more beautiful then modern ones. I know, you can't change progress, but wow, if walls could talk, wouldn't that be cool though?
    Love the history lecture Teacher:)
    Kathleen in Az

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    1. I don't like to be overly nostalgic, but I do feel that some building craftmanship was lost over time...

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  13. Beautiful castle.. carrying centuries of history..

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  14. Thank you for the wonderful tour and pictures. Here in Oregon in the USA, "our" history barely goes back 200 years. I always enjoy these--more tours, please.

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    1. I'm taking my camera with me wherever I go to create "Wandering Around" posts, but they are rather long to write... But I like when people tell me they enjoy them ;)

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  15. I have no idea or even "guess" where or ? It sure is lovely though!

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  16. Beautiful set of photographs,
    The blue sky a joy to see,
    I also enjoyed the History.

    However, I don't know where it is ...
    But I really enjoyed your post

    All the best Jan

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  17. Again, I love your tours. When walking through a ruin like that, I love to sit and ponder the history that has taken place there. I'm guessing someplace either in Brittany, I know....I'm a genius, or Normandy since John's family held land there. Either way, thanks you for the tour.

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  18. Thank you for the beautiful tours of the old Castles, Magali. I really enjoyed!

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  19. I'm really enjoying this tour of old castles, Magali, especially with you doing all the climbing :-)
    Amalia
    xo

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  20. Old castles are truly stunning and set the imagination flowing with the history that they hold. Thank you for the tours Magali xx

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  21. It' really amazing how much of the castle remains after all this time. The stonework is truly impressive and it boggles the mind as to how it was all constructed. I have no idea where it's at, but I sure wish I had charming historical places near me to explore! Thank you for sharing your lovely photos with us today, Magali!

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  22. Wonderful architecture. It seems some of the castle would be ideal for movie scenes. Quite impressive.

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  23. Have no idea where you went, but I would love to see it. Thanks so much for taking us on this lovely tour. I only wish I could go in person.

    Have a lovely week.

    Mary

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  24. I haven't the faintest idea of where the castle might be, but I'd certainly love to visit!

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  25. Love the last pic, as it is so reminiscent of the many enchanting places in Europe! Where are you, pray tell?!

    Poppy

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  26. Sorry I'm late but I'm on a beach vacation, last day:(. As many old castle ruins and castles I visited I don't think I've seen this one.I could guess but with the history here, the women's prison I would guess it's in Britain. I love the interesting photos and I enjoy your castle series tremendously.

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