Los Angeles Times PUTTING ON LE RITZ My Château Is Your Château Side Trips: Travel Tips, Trends and Tools March 20, 2005
BONJOUR PARIS.COM , Hotel Review: C’est la vie (de Château)! Author: Karen Ahrens April 9, 2005 It's like being invited to spend the week with good friends. From the moment I was picked up at the train station, I felt more as though I was on my way to spend a few days at a friend's château rather than a hotel or B & B (that is, of course, if I had friends with châteaux). In a nutshell, the story of the Vie de Château is that this lovely domicile was built in the late 1700's and has been in the de Genevraye family since. The Count (Patrick) and the Countess (Gianne), an American artist, have spent the past 10 years restoring the château to its original glory. The Count and the Countess, people who love to be surrounded by friends and family, have decided to open their château to a wider audience then their current pool of friends and now the doors are open to you as well. The only requirement: "No dull people," Patrick says as we enjoy our dinner in front of the fireplace in the salon. "My only fear is dull people." They look at their guests more as friends and just as we look to our friends to be lovers of life, laughter, and the bonheur, they look to their guests to be the same.
Don't expect a typical B & B type of experience at the château˜more a sophisticated version of summer camp for grown-ups. They host seven to nine paying guests for a week, always with a theme(s). The May program (May 7-14) focuses on fine arts, the July program (July 30 ˆ August 6) focuses on music and wine, and the Thanksgiving program (November 19ˆ26) is a very special opportunity to participate in the traditional autumn hunt (Chasse à Courre). Their website (www.the-vie-de-chateau.com ) provides complete details on all of the programs offered. Each week also provides plenty of opportunity to explore the region, play a game of golf, and enjoy the park surrounding the château. Bikes rides, walks in the woods, and horseback riding are all at your fingertips. Each week a local oenologist comes to the château to offer a private wine-tasting of regional wines. This very personal tasting gives you an opportunity to learn about the wines, traditions, vineyards, and wine-makers of the Loire Valley. Outside of the organized activities, there is plenty of time to relax or explore on your own.
The interior of the château is an eclectic blend of châteaux styles during the late 1700's, the traditions of the regions, and the tastes of the de Genevraye lineage. The Countess has given painstaking attention to restoring the interior of the château to its original décor, from the tapestries to the clock on the fireplace to the linens. She spent a good six months on each room, first to see the room in all of its light and moods, and then to determine how it was meant to look. The attention shows. You do not feel as though you are in a renovated room but rather that the room has always been this way. OK, that can be good and bad. Some of the original beds were made for little Napoléons and, being a tall woman, I find myself lying a bit diagonally in order to stretch out, but the down pillows and the wool-filled mattress makes you forget all about short little Napoléons.
My corner of the château was the Chambre de Dame and I absolutely loved it. It's a huge room on the corner of the château with one set of French-door windows facing the meadow and brook and the other set facing the forest. The room is very bright and has a double bed, small sofa, desk, and a working fireplace. The bathroom is large as well, with two sinks, a bathtub, and a bidet. If you prefer a more modern bathing experience (i.e. shower), then I recommend the room directly above the Chambre de Dame, which is called Chambre de Caroline. It's also big, has the same views, has a queen-size bed, but also has a shower. Since this room is in the corner of the top floor of the château, it's very quiet and very private. For the single traveller, I recommend the Chambre de Mireille with its river view, fireplace, and large canopied single bed that is a bit like a cocoon. You are assured to have very restful nights in this room. The Chambre de Mireille also has a shower, and it is it is close to the toilettes. A word on that: all of the rooms have access to bathrooms, but in the traditional French style, the toilettes are in a separate room, in this case located on each of the three floors of the château. Don't let this discourage you; just bring a robe and tally it up as part of the true château experience. Remember that you are among friends when you stay at the château. The website gives you full details and photographs on each of the rooms available to paying guests.
In addition to the bedrooms, you are welcome to relax in one of the salons or the more casual Scottish Bar, which has a small bar, comfy sofa, satellite television, and movies. The salons are formal and decorated with antiques ˆ not the type of room you will want to put your feet up and relax in, but the Scottish Bar is just that. Each room of the château has its own character and its own little treasures. Taking an informal tour of the château with Gianne is an interesting journey in understanding the origins of the château and its contents, as well as the efforts put forth for the renovations.
Meals are traditional French cuisine, accompanied by wine from the Count's cave. It's wonderful to be among the aristocracy: fresh game caught on the property, fresh fish from the market, fruits and vegetables grown in the bountiful Loire Valley, and cheeses made in the local tradition. Note that they will accommodate some minor dietary requirements, but if you are a macrobiotic vegetarian, well, you‚ll be eating a lot of bread and vegetables. Lunch and dinner are eaten together, just as you would with friends and family. Dinner is usually a semi-formal event, which only seems fitting since you are dining in a château. Breakfast is self-serve in the spacious kitchen, another gem of a room in the château. I was reluctant about breakfast the first morning. I am not much of a morning person and I really just wanted to have my coffee and bread in peace, and that I did. The kitchen is bright, with double doors opening to the fresh morning. The breads, croissants, pain brioché, jams, butter, coffee, tea, warmed milk, and sugar were all out on the counter, and Gianne and one of the other guests were taking their breakfast at the table. You are free to take your breakfast to your room, but, even being the non-morning person that I am, I enjoyed having my breakfast in the kitchen with the others, followed of course by one last cup of coffee in my room, reading and enjoying the quiet morning.
This château is surrounded by 450 acres of the family's land. There are a few houses and stables that can be discovered if you walk through the grounds, which you certainly should. They are beautiful, serene, and filled with a sense of history. Be sure to take the opportunity to go for a walk with Gianne or Patrick. The stories of the buildings, the people who have lived within them, the river, the mill, the WWI American pilot who crashed his bi-plane in the meadow only to find his wife-to-be within the château, are fascinating and add much to your appreciation of the chance to spend time at this château. The land, really a park, surrounding the château is a beautiful and unspoiled Loire Valley landscape. We saw stags grazing in the meadow and chevreuils (roe deer) running through the forest. At night the only sound you hear is the babbling brook. In the morning, the birds chime in. It sounds like a fairytale, n'est-çe pas?
If you want to explore France in a more personal, in-depth way,
then the Vie de Château is for you. It's a unique, once-in-a-lifetime
chance to live in an eighteenth-century château while enjoying
the history, tradition, and pleasures of the region, all guided
by your interesting and personable host and hostess. As Gianne and
I walked back from our promenade through the woods at dusk, we crossed
the field in front of the château. The dogs chose to swim
across the brook rather than take the little old, wooden footbridge.
As she told me the story of how a branch of the river was redirected
many, many years ago to come closer to the château, we caught
sight of a fire flickering in the fireplace in the salon and we
knew that a lovely apéritif would be waiting for us inside.
Ah, the château life! |
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| La Vie de Chateau by Virginie S. Leaving the grandes villes behind, one travels back to the life of the aristocracy and the royalty of La France, to a world so extremely contrary to American life in the 21st century. Entering a sensation of time warp, it is possible to experience Aleanor of Aquitaine and her fascination with the Loire Valley. Le Val de la Loire is a painting depicting the beauty of the pastoral countryside with its small farms. These regions intrigued Marie Antoinette, who not even wanting to learn the French language, not being French, and being despised by the French – still- created her own Disneyland at Le Petit Trianon, enjoyed a life of gathering eggs fresh from les poulets, and feeding le grand cochon that would provide food for an entire year pour les fermiers. (Some say the only part of the pig not used for food consumption is the snout.) |
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These are self-contained farms where one’s life work is supporting the family by growing all the food for the animals and the family members who live there, never forgetting the beloved hunting dogs. All chateaux have many dogs of different elevated status, from the royal to the protector of the estate or acreage in hectares, many hundreds of acres of land used for forestry, replanted at periods, cut down at prime time for the lumber industry and stacked by the roads. While traveling along the shaded narrow roads, one sees fields of les vignobles – grapevines waiting to be fruitful as in the mother of all years – 2003- for the cabernet franc –a very dry summer and yet, the perfect amount of rainfall in July/August for the harvest, the Beaujolais red wines of Anjou – Bourgueil de San Nicolas and de la Lande. Generations of wine experts know exactly how many years to save the bouteilles before they pass their peak and are not fit for consumption. One can taste the wine right from the aged oak barrels, from the spigot and realize how prices in France are amazing for the most exquisite tastes in the world. An amateur will quickly learn the art of wine tasting (Not consuming, but noting the nose, the bouquet, the berries of the woods, the fruitiness, the herbs, the mushrooms of the region, the earthiness, the apricots, etc.) Swirling the wine many times in the crystal goblets, it is delightful to notice the legs of the beautiful ladies (les jambes de belles dames) and subtly sip and savor the jewels – to pour out the excess as not to overindulge and waste one’s ability to make an intelligent distinction between the best Prestige years – 1989, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2003. It is a must to buy the wines that are not only ready to consume, but the ones that will last for 6-8 years to come to their peak The French wine connoisseur finds himself mesmerized in the time warp and loses all sense of appointments and deadlines, savoring and selecting his favorites to be purchased by the cases and transported to his private “Cave”. The cave is a treasure chest, a place of mystery, fantasy, hospitality, education and lecture, indulgence in both seduction of la femme and of the drink, complete with musical percussion and dance. Not every day is one invited to visit “La Cave”, only at the ultimate time and inspiration of the maitre de chateau. Family members and guests alike feel honored to pay the cave a visit and only at the right climate and time of day. La Vie de Chateau: a life of extreme contrasts Each piece of furniture and each accessory to an individual room are personally selected by the countess, who is learned in art history and French history dating to Etruscan prehistoric times. She has worked on this puzzle for over 10 years, sorting rooms stacked with anything and everything – so full, that previously one could not enter by a doorway. We stayed in the “original washroom” of the chateau where the laundry was collected, washed, and ironed by the servants in the past. The light is dawning as I sit in my 20th century house in San Clemente, California watching the light of the sun attempt to filter through the mist and fog on a sultry humid summer day in mid-August, just the morn after returning from the chateau via Air France to LAX. I notice the obvious sound pollution that permeates my life in Southern California – so different from the buzz of bees, the animal calls from the exotic forest, and the birds singing in the sunshine among the rosiers, the pine trees, and the redwoods 100 years of age. I can quickly recall the spiders spinning webs, the dogs barking at intruders, the pastoral scene of les Alles disappearing into the forest canopied by lovely graceful trees. A three month old colt stays close to its mother who shoos the flies from its back and walks with her male companion. In front of the animals a lovely pond is filled with water lilies and small rowboats awaiting the guests who care to enjoy. The delicious smells of fresh coffee, toasted baguettes and baked croissants are filtering into the bedroom chamber from the kitchen below the back staircase which is decorated with architectural plans of the added wings and changes made to the chateau around 1950. One quickly steps into a casual but presentable attire and meanders carefully down the circular wooden staircase to the kitchen where Gigi is heating milk to just the boiling point on her wood burning stove for café au lait – only served in the morning with lump sugar and breads made with corn, accompanied with homemade strawberry or apricot jams and honey of Yemen or from the loved beehives. The count enters tres vif, not sleeping more than 4-5 hours a night, and calls to his” bouchon” for a cup of coffee. Also, unfiltered apple juice, fresh churned butter, kiwi fruit, apples from the orchard or peaches and strawberries freshly picked are on display for the simple French petit dejeuner. One of the caretakers, Jean-Philippe, enters with some tomatoes he has picked from his garden for the lunch. Jim enters with a peach in hand from the room-sized pantry and is scolded because it must be used for the rack of pork with peaches for dinner. The double dogs, with huge paws the size of lions and blonde fur, saunter into the country kitchen and lounge under the long wooden table awaiting morsels of food or some love from family members, and no one can believe they are real killers when it comes to the hunt. The Count may decide to take them at any moment, with guns, to find the stag that is pestering his property, but will be providing food for the winter. The stag, as large as the kitchen table, will be butchered and placed in the freezer for many an ultimate dinner served as filet mignon, pate, etc. Armand and Arthur have seen the deer and the fawn just that day. The deer heads, wild boar heads, and antlers attest to the hunt of autrefois. Gigi has told us about La Chasse in November – when all the men come to the chateau in full regalia and enjoy la vie de chateau and de chasse. In her future plans she will make available a time for single women to stay at the chateau to perhaps enjoy an adventure of romance there. Our hostess is always planning in great detail the next meal for the group of 8-12 guests. Lunch is an important part of la vie de chateau. On this particular day the itinerary includes a visit to the poissonier who brings his truck of fresh shellfish, etc. to the nearby village Gigi selects the best of his suggestion – les moules (mussels), la Lotte, (a mild white fish), and les crevettes (beautiful fresh shrimp.) We notice that the French do not wash every item of food so thoroughly as les Americains.The taste is not to be washed away. This includes vegetables, seafood, fruits, even canned tuna and hearts of palm, anchovies etc. Lunch includes a salad course, pate, cornichons, olives, always delicious fresh breads which are cut and placed on the table by each plate. Table service is complete with cloth napkins, wine glasses, and water, only for the Americans. The entrée can be anything from pasta, to ratatouille with scrambled eggs or boiled eggs with a lovely sauce. The dessert course is followed by a coffee course served in beautiful demi-tasse cups. Various afternoon activities include golf, a tour of the chateau , dancing, music, painting, reading, biking, nature walks, horse and carriage rides, excursions to the local bakery for an éclair au café- huge with coffee crème inside, des bricologes for antiquing, shopping, visiting the farms, the mansions, pontooning – punting on the lake, swimming in the source for the cure, fishing, Loire wine tasting, visiting the local gentry, and horse-back riding.
Dress is semi-formal or at least a jacket for men and a skirt for ladies. One dines in “la sale a manger” or outside on the Persian carpet with china and crystal reminiscing of theme parties: “Out of Africa” or a “Venetian Weekend”. Champagne cocktails are served in the library. Following, all are placed at la table. The host will place the most recent female guest on his right side and another recent guest on his left. He will always make conversation with his dinner companion, not ignoring the others, but entertaining continually the woman guest while the hostess will do the same with the most recent male guest. Others are always seated alternately men/women. The bell rings and the servant brings the appetizers, serving each guest individually. The wine is poured and all wait to start. A small knife and fork are placed above the plate for dessert. A large spoon may be used for pasta or ice cream. Bread on table is not considered “gauche”. The entrée is served on a large platter and the presentation is the ultimate. Men or women may serve each other as the plates are passed around the table. Dessert is always before the coffee course. However, at night coffee may be consumed in the salon with cognac or eau de vie – plum wine like fire water. |
