21 December 2017

From Montrésor to Chemillé to Chinon

Chinon is a very different kind of place compared to Montrésor. It's a big town, pop. 8,000 or so. The château at Chinon is basically a ruin, and it's enormous. And it has much greater historical significance than does the château at Montrésor. The Plantagenets and Joan of Arc feature in its past.

A section of the Château de Chinon in an October 2005 photo

That said, I need to do some reading to refresh my memory of the history of Chinon. And I need to process some photos. Most of the ones I've found so far date back to 2005, and digital cameras didn't consistently produce images of the same quality back then. We'll see.

Meanwhile, I want to post a couple of photos of the village that lies just to the west of Montrésor. It's called Chemillé-sur-Indrois, and it's the spot where a small earthen dam creates a plan d'eau, a small artificial lake, just three kilometers (a couple of miles) from the Montrésor château.

Le plan d'eau de Chemillé-sur-Indrois, near Montrésor

There's a good restaurant there called Le Moulin de Chaudé. Nearly two years ago I posted photos I took during a meal there, and here again is a link. I am providing this information for an American who participates in a travel forum that I like to read and who has said he plans to visit Montrésor on an upcoming trip to France.

In warmer weather (we were here in December) this terrasse is set up with tables and chairs for outdoor dining.

Also, here's another panel of that Renaissance-era stained-glass window in the church at Montrésor. I don't know why I didn't post it earlier.


I can't seem to finish with Montrésor.

10 comments:

  1. C'est comme la chevelure à Éléonore, quand y'en a plus, y'en a encore!

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  2. Since you went to Chinon in 2005, parts of the chateau shown on your photo have been restored and are no longera ruin.

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    1. As shown in your photo, there were enough walls and superstructures left to make a restoration possible and not a reconstruction as I think you might suggest. I am sure it is true to the original. I agree, it looks a little brand new, but let's wait for time's patina to play!

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    2. Oh well, so much for the idea of a Chinon series. I'm too far behind the times.

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  3. This reconstructed section seems to be what we saw when we (Betsy, Doug, and I ) visited Chinon this summer. There was plenty of non-reconstructed area, too. I'll bet they did this so that they could have a place to have more of a draw for tourists -- inside here, they had a video going on one side that kind of re-enacted Plantagenet stories, and, along the way in various areas, there were displays of the evolution of the castle along the years of its life, and other interesting things. It wasn't bad -- it was very simple and didn't feel at all "hokey"... no wax figures or wrong-era plush furniture, or anything like that.
    Judy

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  4. chm I'll have to google that reconstruction and compare it with Ken's photo above.

    That stained glass window is beautiful - I particularly like the architectural background with the Corinthian columns.

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  5. A little Youtube video about Chinon showing the interior:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SuPCr2MAk8

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