22 August 2011

Two more castles in the Berry

The Berry is an old French province that has only historical and cultural significance nowadays. Its largest city is Bourges, with its amazing cathedral. Saint-Aignan is located at the northwest edge of the Berry province and the extreme eastern edge of the old province called the Touraine (where we live).

One of my favorite places in the Berry is a "perched village" on the north side of the Indre River, downstream from Châteauroux, called Palluau. It was the home territory of Louis de Buade (1622-1698), governor of La Nouvelle-France, which became the Province of Quebec in Canada. Louis de Buade's noble title was Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau.

The Frontenac family's chateau in Palluau-sur-Indre

The Château du Mée is out in the countryside a few kilometers northeast of Palluau-sur-Indre, sort of on the way to Bouges and Valençay. I posted about it once before — here — with more pictures.

Le Château du Mée between Palluau and Pellevoisin

I haven't been able to find much information about Mée. If you look at my older post you'll see comments from Marie, whose been visiting for a few days. And you'll also find this anonymous comment: This chateau is indeed privately owned! It's empty inside, but they restored the outside. It's on a big domain, and about 1 km further on the domain there's another chateau, but then a chateau where the owners live. That chateau is even more beautiful and bigger and in perfect shape, also inside.
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6 comments:

  1. Seine Judeet (Judith)22 August, 2011 13:11

    Must have been the propriétaire!

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  2. Starman22 August, 2011 17:41

    One must have beaucoup des bucks to be able to restore one of those places.

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  3. Dean France22 August, 2011 18:13

    Thanks. Now I know why the grand hotel in Québec City bears the name Château Frontenac...sounds better than Château Buade.

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  4. IanJ22 August, 2011 22:39

    If you think a bit of redecorating or house maintenance can be daunting, read about Mr Morvan's ambitious plans for restoring the chateau de Palluau: http://www.lanouvellerepublique.fr/LOISIRS/Patrimoine-tourisme/Chantier-pharaonique-au-domaine-de-Palluau-Frontenac
    You have to admire him.

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  5. Peter23 August, 2011 07:20

    Was John, Duke of Berry from your region? He became famous for commissioning the "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry" in 1410.

    For those not familiar with this book, it is a richly decorated book of hours, containing prayers to be said by the lay faithful at each of the canonical hours of the day.

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  6. PeakVT27 August, 2011 06:32

    There is indeed a larger, more formal château a little farther into the wood, which is labeled "Montbel" in GMaps. I'm not sure if the commenter was saying there is a third, but I don't see one.

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