The Château de la Ferté-Imbault is just about half and hour's drive east of The Château du Moulin. Between the two is the town of Romorantin-Lanthenay (known locally as "Romo"). It doesn't appear in any of my guidebooks, though it is worth a visit. The population of the village is about one thousand.
A château-fort was built on this site starting in the year 980. During the 100 Years' War between the English and the French in the 14th and 15th centuries, that building was destroyed, as was the neighboring village. A new château was built during the Renaissance in the 16th century. That château was destroyed by fire in 1562, during the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants. La Ferté-Imbault was re-built in the early 17th century.
The Château de la Ferté-Imbault is the largest brick château in the Sologne region of France.
I remember having dinner at the restaurant pictured above. In French the word lard means bacon or pork belly. What we call lard (rendered pork fat) is known as saindoux in France. The expression tête de lard is an insult used to describe a person who is ignorant and obstinate.
I don't remember seeing the word lard in French before and here is a restaurant with a funny name. It reminds me of the Trump Tower, etc- tete de lard lol.
ReplyDeleteHaaaa, Evelyn!
ReplyDeleteWhat an odd choice for a restaurant name :) Speaking of restaurants, I just saw an ad for Café Louis Philippe yesterday-- just came across my FB feed. I thought of you and CHM.
I've enjoyed lunches and dinners at the Louis Philippe many times by myself, with CHM, with my late friend Cheryl, with Evelyn, and with Marie-Jacques from Rouen.
DeleteI remember having a good meal there. It has a beautiful facade as well as the nice name.
DeleteTete de lard....easy to remember lol. I would go just to say we ate there.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could remember what I had for dinner that evening at the Tête de Lard restaurant. I can't remember, and I haven't found anything about it on the blog. I do remember that a friend, John from California, who was having dinner with us, ordered an omelette for his first course, and I wished I had done the same because it looked so good. I also had a delicious omelette once at the Louis Philippe café in Paris. I was alone and I enjoyed eaves-dropping on the two men at the table next to mine that day. I wrote about it in this post: https://ckenb.blogspot.com/2013/08/figuring-out-lunch-in-paris.html
DeleteIt was nice to read that 2013 blog. You were only 64 then. I must say that I really miss my 60s now that I will soon be entering my 80s.
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