10 July 2015

Beauharnais, Sancerre, and Maupas

These are three more or less unrelated photos. What they have in common is geography — all show scenes in central France. All were taken in early June.


The house above, in the Sologne town called La Ferté-Beauharnais (pop. 529), was for sale on June 1. Maybe it's not too late to scoop it up in early July, if you are interested. In fact, here it is on a real estate web page. The asking price seems to be about 70 thousand euros, considerably less than 100 thousand dollars at today's exchange rates. (After studying the web site, I think it might just be the corner unit that's for sale, not the whole house.)

La Ferté-Beauharnais is located about 45 kilometers east of Blois and 60 kilometers south of Orléans, in the heart of the Sologne natural region.The village « est doté d'un étang, d'un champ de foire, d'un cimetière, d'une école maternelle, d'une école primaire, d'un terrain de football, d'une supérette, d'un parc de stationnement, d'une salle de fête, et d'un restaurant », according to its Wikipedia page. I haven't found any specific information about the house in my photo, but it must be 500 or 600 years old.


Above is one more photo of the wine town of Sancerre, which is another hour east of La Ferté-Beauharnais and about which I have done several recent posts. It sits on a hilltop not far from the Loire River, which at that point runs south to north. It's Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir wines are famous worldwide.


Finally, here's a château that's not far north of the city of Bourges and near the wine village called Menetou-Salon. It's the Château de Maupas and it has existed since the 13th century — though it has been modified and "modernized" over the centuries. The same family has lived here since 1682. The château is open for guided tours.

5 comments:

  1. The Château de Maupas looks like the inspiration for the (much gaudier) Biltmore in Asheville.

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  2. You know, I've never seen the Biltmore House... but I've tried the wines – not bad. Enjoyed your comment about the bayonet light bulbs too. Hope you're having a good summer.

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  3. Is that a rounded donjon we see far in the back of the Sancerre photo, Ken?

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    1. The Michelin guide says: Ce donjon cylindrique (la Tour des Fiefs) de la fin du 14e siècle est le seul vestige du château des comtes de Sancerre...

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  4. That is a cute little house for sale in the first picture. Amazing what a "discount" the exchange rate creates.

    Colombage, in the listing, I assume means half-timbers on the exterior.

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