Touring the Chateau de Chantilly, France - 1 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Touring Château de Chantilly:  Exploring one of France’s Art Treasure Palaces with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

One of the main reasons my husband Laurent and I visited the Château at Chantilly was to view the manuscript called Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry illustrated by the de Limbourg Brothers – Paul, Hermann, and Jean.

This manuscript shows what happens in each month to assure a successful harvest for food and wine.  There are astrological symbols associated with each month, which allows sky watchers to know what month they are in.

This manuscript was created for use by a nobleman.  It is decorated with gold, the blue in it resembles lapis lazuli, and the brilliant yellows might have been the inspiration for the poisonous arsenic pages in library books that Umberto Eco wrote about in his book The Name of the Rose that was later made into a movie by the same name.

The library at the Château de Chantilly houses the Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Barry manuscript.  Our tour guide told us that you had to apply to the Institut de France to see it and would have to wear a surgical mask over your mouth and gloves to handle it.

The Château has facsimiles for reference.  I bought a miniature Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry as a souvenir.

Another artwork housed in the museum at Chantilly that I like is the Renaissance portrait of Simonetta Vespucci by Piero de Cosimo (1462 – 1521), who is portrayed with a snake necklace.

Italians still know that beautiful jewelry is wonderful and like to collect it.  However, if they need food, clothing, and shelter for their families, jewelry sometimes will be sold or pawned, if they have run out of vases to sell.

We went on a guided tour on this visit to see the private rooms and galleries.

We began our tour in the library, which shows the monogram of Henri d’Orléans on the ceiling.  His coat of arms shows that he is from the younger branch of the Bourbon family (Left top to right bottom red slash). Our guide told us that the Institut de France owned the Chantilly Château.

One of the Institut de France’s key provisions is that a member of the Bourbon family must always be in charge of Chantilly.  Basically, the Château collects, restores, cleans, and guards antique furniture, books, decorative arts, and paintings that were owned by various members of the Bourbon family and left to the Institut in wills.

The books displayed in the library always change our guide told us.  On the day that we visited, there were several books on display with Apocalyptic Beasts and Christ on the covers.  A medieval “Roman de la Rose” by Jean de Meung was on display as well.

My favorite room after the library was the “singerie” or “monkey room” decorated with monkeys in Chinese pavilions.  This was the Bourbon family’s classroom.

The Bourbon children began their studies at age four or five.  Children studied mythology, Latin, Greek, the Bible, and mathematics as preschool students.

The children studied for twelve hours a day with one hour for recreation.  Children married in their teen years.

After that, the boys went off to war at the age of sixteen or seventeen.  The young men often died at the age of 25.

Our guide explained the language of equestrian sculptures to us.  The best way to do was to die fighting in battle, which meant the horse was portrayed with the right leg lifted.

The visit to the Château’s chapel was interesting.  The hearts of the Bourbons are kept there in jars similar to Egyptian canopic jars.  The hearts are examined for poisoning.

After the tour, we went outside to take photographs of the Château, using the views of it that appeared in the James Bond movie A View to a Kill.

Laurent and I both had fun exploring Chantilly and walking around this very photogenic town.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Touring Chartres Cathedral: Walking the Labyrinth with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Touring Chartres Cathedral:  Walking the Labyrinth in Chartres, France with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

  

On a prior visit to Chartres Cathedral, I purchased a French-language academic journal that discussed the uses for the labyrinth in this spot.

The journal entitled simply Nôtre Dame de Chartres was devoted to the large labyrinth at Chartres that is placed in the floor of the nave area of the Cathedral.

In the past, worshipers stood during mass and could easily see the labyrinth.  Today, chairs cover the floor most of the time, so scholars have to look at drawings to know what the labyrinth at Chartres looks like.

Several cathedrals had labyrinths in the Middle Ages that have not made it to the modern period due to neglect and/or purposeful destruction.

The academic journal I read said that in the rare cases where scholars know the names of the master masons (engineer-architects), it is because their names were inscribed in the labyrinths.

The article went on to describe how the labyrinth almost equaled the Western Rose Window in diameter.

Master masons may have used the labyrinth as a blueprint and measuring device to build other parts of the Cathedral.  The author of the article said that even rope could be used to measure off lengths for use elsewhere in the church.

The center of the labyrinth at the Cathedral at Chartres held a copper disc that showed the combat of Theseus and the Minotaur from ancient Greek mythology. 

Theseus was able to kill the Minotaur and escape the labyrinth with the help of a woman in much the same way that Christ helped save men in difficulty in the Christian world.  (Life is constant struggle, so we all need help.)

The Theseus story from Greek mythology is called pagan in most church booklets you read in France.  However, people still know and refer to mythology today.  This was even truer in the Middle Ages when Christianity was a relatively young religion with rival religions and heretical sects in its own ranks.

Peasants and nobility alike could understand from the Theseus story the metaphor of Christ being like Ariadne, who gave Theseus the thread to escape the labyrinth once he had killed the Minotaur in Knossos, Crete.

Another way in which the labyrinth was used was to replicate the Road to Jerusalem as a pilgrimage.  Parishoners, who could afford, it were encouraged to go on pilgrimages in much the way that Muslims are encouraged to go on the hajj to Mecca today, if they have paid all their debts and can afford it.

Some labyrinths appear on church walls as well.  In that location, they remind me of the Stations of the Cross that surround pews in Catholic Churches.  Each Sabbath, the Catholic faithful can replicate Christ’s walk to Calvary, if they choose to do so.

People who would like to know more about the labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral can consult the Loyola University of Chicago website devoted to Medieval Studies with pages set aside just for the Labyrinth of Chartres.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Touring Saumur - 1 - with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Touring Saumur:  Visiting the Loire Valley’s Home of the  Cadre Noir Equestrian School with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

The château at Saumur is lovely.  There are two sparkling wine houses in town that do informative tours with wine tastings: Gratien et Meyer and Ackermann.

The world-famous Cadre Noir Equestrian School has its headquarters in Saumur and the Decorative Arts Museum at the château has an extensive collection of objects from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.

But, Saumur was also a stronghold of Protestantism, so it is still somewhat downplayed as a tourism venue despite having nice hotels, recreational areas, and high-quality merchandise to buy.

The Protestants of Saumur vied with Louis XIII (1601 – 1643) for power.  Louis XIII had Saumur’s protective walls razed in retaliation in 1623.

The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 by Louis XIV (1638 – 1715) caused many French Protestants (Huguenots) to emigrate to England, Berlin, and even the southern United States (Charleston, South Carolina was the main port of entry.)

Today tourists visit Saumur for the Crémant de Loire tours and tastings as well as for the exhibitions of the Cadre Noir Equestrian School.

We did not have a lot of time to visit on this outing to Saumur.  We had to make a choice between the Calvary Museum, Armour Museum, and the Decorative Arts Museum.

We chose to visit the château first and climbed to the very top for a view of the sinuous Loire River, the gardens around the château, the forests, the off-white houses with slate roofs, and people going in and out of shops with packages of wine, charcuterie, bread, and pastries.

I thought of Honoré de Balzac’s heroine Eugénie Gramdet, who lived in Saumur, and imagined her stocking up her provincial townhouse with jams and jellies along with rillettes for winter while she saved money to send to her cousin in Paris.  In the end, I think both she and her cousin got a pretty good deal.

We visited the Decorative Arts Museum, which has a ton of great items, if you like dishes and dining room centerpieces.

As I walked through the museum, I thought to myself, “How much stuff does France have squirreled away in the provinces?”

Each little town in France seems to have its own collection of decorative arts in a townhouse museum or château it seems. 

Perhaps this is because decorative arts are easier to move than paintings and sculptures in times of war, domestic revolutions, rioting, and foreign occupations.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Touring Azay-le-Rideau: Visiting a Loire Valley Financier's Renaissance Chateau with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

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 15^th 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 1^st, who was captive in Pavia, Italy.  Once Francis 1^st 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 1^st.

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

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Touring Poitiers Baptistery: Visiting a 4th Century Historical Site in France with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

  

Touring Poitiers Baptistery:  Visiting a 4^th Century Historical Site in France with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

After we visited the Saint-Pierre Cathedral, we went to the Saint John the Baptist Baptistery that was built in the 4^th century in Poitiers.

I thought that there was nothing older than Jouarre Abbaye outside Paris in France with its Mérovingian art, especially its wall of stratified geometric shapes.

The Baptistery at Poitiers packs a lot of history into a small space.

Steps led down into the baptismal pool that has an octagonal shape.  When you are baptized, you become a child of God where men, women, children, and slaves are equally loved.  (“Slaves” is the wording used in the Bible of all Christian sects.)

Several times the Baptistery was faced with destruction, including during the French Revolution when the Baptistery was taken over by the government as a national good.

The town’s librarian Mazet saved it as storage space probably.  Storage space is always in short supply in France in all periods even with garde manger on châteaux grounds to store food.

The interior column capitals still had acanthus leaves, dolphin sculptures, beads, and olives carved on them.  The Baptistery paintings included those of the hand of God, the lamb of God, and the twelve apostles.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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