Friday, May 13, 2022 - Château Tanlay and Château Ancy-le-Franc

 As you may have noticed, I'm using a mobility scooter to get around. Up to today, I have been pleasantly surprised at the improvements both private and public that have been made in the last few years. I have been able to go inside buildings and explore the grounds of sites we've visited. Handicapped parking spaces (which can be used with an American handicapped mirror tag) and accessible bathrooms have been the norm. 

But today was a disappointment. We went to two châteaux today and in each case, I could get around the grounds, but could not visit any of the inside rooms because of stairs. The grounds of these two châteaux are definitely worth seeing and I'm glad I had the opportunity to explore them, but France has more work to do before they can offer barrier-free tourism. And, of course, I realize how difficult it is to retro-fit a 15th century building to be handicap accessible.

So, for today, I can describe the outsides and will have to depend on Dave to fill in with photos and words the interiors of these two fabulous châteaux. The first château is Tanlay a bit more than an hour from our house. 

And we're going with the Cliff Notes version of the history because, well, it's complicated. The château, the stables, and the moat were all built in stages from 1550-1700 by a variety of owners, all with ties to the French court, the last being the Marquis de Tanlay. The château has remained in the Tanlay family every since. The multiple owners was in part due to the French wars of religion when the château was owned by a Protestant active in the Huguenot resistance against the Catholics. 

view from the street, but...

....this is not the château.

This is the château!

The interior rooms could only be viewed with a tour. Our guide was a delightful intern who was studying history at Besançon.

our tour guide

She spoke excellent English, even though she kept apologizing for her bad English. Her enthusiasm and knowledge made the tour delightful for Dave, Janis, and Clark.

While the tour proceeded inside, I checked out the grounds which were lovely, even if a bit formal. 

this castle has a moat

even the chimneys were carved

two pyramidal columns stand guard over the entry bridge

Dave, Janis, and Clark report that Tanlay is wonderfully furnished giving a picture of château life in the 18th century and beyond. But no photos were allowed in those rooms for some reason. The Huguenot tower has murals that give a satiric view of devilish Catholics and angelic Protestants. 

panorama of the trompe l'oeil (fool the eye) room

trompe l'oeil makes 2-dimensional painting look 3 dimensional - here these are not real statues, but paintings of statues 

While the team was inside, I explored outside. The whole of the château and grounds were pleasing in their symmetry, a hallmark of Renaissance architecture. 

the tympanum over the gate to the stables

the tympanum sculpture over the gate to the
 garden

beyond the trees is a golf course. 

The tympanum over the garden gate

.Many hectares of parkland were just outside the château grounds, featuring a nymphaeum at the end of its waterway. 

the château's waterway with nymphaeum at the far end

The remaining parkland has been turned into a golf course. Who knew the French played golf?

I was intrigued by the strange "stabbing" marks used to decorate some of the stonework. There's also interesting carvings in lots of places. 

Intricate designs carved into the stone above the entry gate 

There was this same kind of stabby carving (I'm sure that's an art word) was all over this entrance gate of the château.

Next adventure was to find a place to eat lunch. We were hoping to find a picnic table by the Burgundy Canal. (Are you noticing that the Burgundy Canal is everywhere in this area?) We saw a couple of empty tables by the canal in Ancy-le-Franc and drove through what apparently wasn't a road, but rather the driveway of a lawn care service. Boats were moored at the canal, the picnic tables were empty and in the shade, but parking was for "those with permission only". As we backed out of the area, the lawn care guy put up a "No Entry" sign as we left. He could have said something earlier. sigh. Oh well. A few kilometers later, we found some benches in a public garden just across from a lock house on the canal. A lovely spot for lunch. 

our view at lunch

lock house at Les Chassignelles

Our afternoon adventure was to visit the Château d'Ancy-le-Franc. Also a Renaissance château, not too far from Tanlay, this château also has the symmetry and elegance of the period. 

the château 

Again, there is a large park surrounding the château including a small lake with an island in the middle on which there is a small building - maybe a way to get away from the hustle and bustle of château life? Who knows. 

the island getaway

so pretty - but only accessible by boat

I'm intrigued by a very modern sculpture of a horse made from found materials. Bright and fun. 

Inside the château, the rooms are sumptuously decorated with murals everywhere from ceiling to the tiles in the floors. There are also rooms filled with Playmobile scenes. Someone has a really large collection of these sets. But photos weren't allowed inside the château. Dave did take this photo out one of the windows, however. These designs are made by garden plantings within metal "cookie cutter" forms. 

One last adventure involved finding a toilet before heading home. We followed a directional sign in the château parking lot to no avail. 

the entrance alley and parking for the château

Then we drove to the tourist office to ask and were directed to a toilet in the post office next door. That task finished, we headed home by the scenic route, as usual. 

Dave grilled pork tenderloin and we continue to work on using up all our food as we leave for Brittany on Thursday. So many things to do, so little time to do them all. But it sure is fun trying.