Touring Azay-le-Rideau: Visiting a Loire Valley Financier’s
Renaissance Château with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Buttery,
warm croissants with tea for me, and hot chocolate with croissants for my
husband Laurent braced us for the cool yet sunny weather the next day as we set
out for a darling Loire Valley château named Azay-le-Rideau.
We
missed it a few times, because there were very few country highway numbers
listed, just directions to the next small town around traffic circles in the
center of small towns on the way there.
We finally did arrive after turning down a few roads and then turning
back several times.
I
arrived frazzled at the Azay-le-Rideau Château, but the sweet perfection of
Azay reflecting in the lake in front of it made me feel better. The lake was made by diverting the Indre
River, a tributary of the Loire River.
The
Azay-le-Rideau Château was built for leisure not defense. The château had little “tourettes” not
towers, a drawbridge for show, and too many windows to protect against
wind. Many châteaux still have large
tapestries on their walls to form a type of insulation in these cold and drafty
castles.
Azay-le-Rideau
is an example of what the French call the First Renaissance, which began in the
middle of the 15th century.
The French Renaissance was the result of what was called “The Italian
Wars,” which were fought to protect French territories in Italy created by
marriage alliances.
The
French brought home Italian artists and portable decorative art objects from
the Italian Wars.
The
man who built Azay-le-Rideau was Gilles Berthelot. All of his family served kings as financial
advisors. The financiers raised money to
pay for wars as well as for infrastructure projects like bridges, roads, and
tunnels.
Berthelot
was associated with the finance minister Samblançy, who had trouble raising the
ransom money to free Francis 1st, who was captive in Pavia,
Italy. Once Francis 1st was
released, he had Samblançy executed.
Berthelot’s
guilt by association with Samblançy made Berthelot flee the region. The mural of this story is “Pay a King’s
Ransom Quickly.”
Berthelot
was never able to live in his château at Azay-le-Rideau.
Integrating
a château with water and foliage is an Italian gardening principle that is used
at Azay-le-Rideau. The “L” shape of the
château shows that it is not set up for ambush.
The
interior of the château at Azay-le-Rideau follows medieval interior design with
rooms opening up into other rooms through doors and not hallways.
The
exterior stairway is impressive with its sculptural bas-reliefs, notably the
salamander representing Francis 1st.
Successive
owners took good care of Azay-le-Rideau for the enjoyment of visitors today.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
Ruth Paget Selfie |