Bouges-le-Château

The Château de Bouges is in the town of Bouges-le-Château just a few miles south of Valençay. Both are in the ancient Berry province and the modern département de l'Indre. My friend Marie and I drove over there yesterday afternoon, just to look around.

A restaurant in Bouges-le-Château

We also went out to enjoy the air-conditioning in the car. Yesterday was the hottest-feeling day we've had all summer. Walt says we might already have had a day with a higher high temperature, but the humidity yesterday was unusually high for the Loire Valley area and you could really feel the heat.

The Château de Bouges, between Châteauroux and Valençay

The château at Bouges is what is called une folie — a folly — and was built in 1765. The village itself is much older. The château is owned by the French government. It's in a big park that includes formal gardens, an arboretum, extensive greenhouses, and stables where visitors can admire a collection of old horse-drawn carriages that belonged to the last private owners of the property.

Nice perspective, very French

The church isn't very old either. A more ancient one was demolished over the course of history, and the current church dates back to the late 1700s, like the château. It felt nice and cool inside the church yesterday afternoon.

The church in Bouges and one of its windows

The Château de Bouges appears to have been modeled on the Petit Trianon at Versailles, but since it was built at exactly the same time it can't really be a replica of that more famous building.