CHATEAU DE CORMATIN

Wednesday morning, since we were all in some state of repair, we took the day off to heal.  To recount our maladies, Bryce and Isabella's cold that started the trip with us worked it's way through the ranks, starting with GG, then Brendan and now Ryan.  Bryce got a case of swimmer's ear and Grandpa tried to fall down the stairs in the middle of the night and twisted his knee.  So, we just laid around and recovered.  Isabella is in the best shape and GG continues on since her cold is almost all gone and she is only coping with her arthritic knee now.

Thursday we were all feeling much better.  Bryce's ear does not seem to be bothering him anymore and his appetite is back, Brendan and Ryan are over their colds and even Grandpa's knee is feeling better.  After breakfast we made our lunches and headed out for Cluny, the famous old abbey town.

In Cluny we strolled the kids down the main street.  Since it was lunch time the cafes and bistros were all very busy and the sun umbrellas were out and the tables were busy.  It is a perfect street cafe atmosphere experience.  

In Cluny you have to use your imagination to think about how enormous the former church was.  In it's heyday this church spanned 4 or 5 blocks and was the largest church in the world, even bigger than the Vatican..  It was torn down during the French Revolution and only one spire remains.  But, the town has done a good job of setting up a view with an outline of the structure and we stood at the nave end of the building and looked out along the area where the building once stood. I don't know if the kids were impressed, but I always am.

After the visit to Cluny we drove on to the village of Cormatin.  We went to the secret picnic area that GG and Grandpa knew about, but the secret is out and all of the tables were being used, so we ate our lunch on a park bench.

When we went into the office to buy our tickets the same man was there selling them (he was there several years ago when GG and Grandpa visited) and he once again complimented GG on her French.  She told him that that was the same thing he said two years ago when she visited, and she bets that he says that to all the girls.  He got a good chuckle out of that.

The chateau here, which is privately owned, is in pretty good condition.  It has been through good times and bad times and was abandoned for many years before the current owners purchased it in 1980.

The first builder of the chateau was of the du Ble line and Jacques du Ble, a redheaded favorite of Marie di Medici, lead the chateau in it's heyday.  Louis XIII gave Jacques the title of Marquis in 1618, and Jacques, at the age of 39, married the 15 year old daughter of the Secretary of State.  This was a real shock to 15 year old Isabella, who exclaimed, "He was an old man!"  I explained that this was a political marriage and the only time they came in contact was to make babies, since that was the young lady's job.  "Yuck!" was Isabella's response.

Jacques lost his life at a fairly young age when he was killed in a battle and the estate passed to a relative.  Eventually the chateau ended up in the hands of a daughter and she was able to bring the estate back to life with the wine production of the estate lands.

During the Revolution the house survived fairly well, with mainly it's furnishings sold off, but the beautiful wall murals survived.  The house was purchased by Raoul Gunsberg, Director of the Opera in 1888 and once again became a very busy, social place and many famous performers stayed there.  The chateau once again fell into disrepair and remained in very bad condition until 1980.

The French government gave 400,000 pounds to the purchasers to help with the restoration and they have done a very good job, furnishing and decorating the chateau with wonderful furniture and rich fabrics.  The wall murals are highlighted in the presentations and they remain as originally painted, with vibrant colors.

We went on the guided tour and visited many rooms including bedchambers and sitting rooms and garde-robes and the kitchen.  The curiosity room was a big hit with the kids who enjoyed looking at the tortoise shell and the skull and various interesting oddities collected by the marquis.

 After the chateau visit we went to the maze where the kids had a good time getting lost and the ones who did find their way went up to the top of the folly to direct the others to safety.  We also enjoyed the kitchen garden, which is in full production with tomatoes and onions and parsley and artichokes and chard all green and vibrant.

Home again as the afternoon rain began to splat down.  The kids were happy to have tacos for dinner and it was obvious that they are all feeling better because their appetites are back and they ate a lot of tacos.  Then it was an hour of play and off to bed to get ready for another day.