Paris1972-Versailles2003

I love castles seen so many in my belle France but each new ones is just more beautiful lol except one…hehehe you know if you read my blog.  I like to expand on my previous post on the Château de Brissac as found more pictures me think should be in my blog, This is in the old town of Brissac-Quincé , now since 2016 is call Brissac Loire Aubance in dept 49 of Maine et Loire in the Pays de la Loire region of my belle France !

The town is located on the D 748 road, 16 km south of Angers, 29 km from Saumur, 46 km from Cholet, 85 km from Nantes and 266 km from Paris; and 252 km from my house. I will cut short on the text as mainly was told in the previous posts, this is some new info and plenty of older pictures, but new to the blog, Hope you enjoy them as I.

The Château de Brissac has been the property and residence of the family of the Dukes of Brissac since the beginning of the 16C. Today it is the residence of the 13th Duke of Brissac.  The Château de Brissac is the highest in France, indeed, 51 meters high with its seven floors, it totals 204 rooms. Some of them have their gilded ceilings, the castle has precious furniture.

A visit to the state rooms and bedrooms reveals a dazzling decor of ceilings painted and gilded with gold leaf. The interior decorations are beautifully crafted, in the light of these gilded ceilings, these tapestries, the large living room and its family portraits… Just like the dining room and its imposing table set ready to receive its guests. In August 1620, it was the scene of a significant event: the reconciliation of Louis XIII and his mother, Marie de Médicis. The King’s bedroom, accessible by the large monumental gallery 32 meters long, keeps the memory of the passage of the monarch then 19 years old. Historic rooms, art galleries and a delightful Belle Epoque theater dedicated to opera. Born from the ambitious dream of Jeanne Say, Marquise de Brissac, this theater hosted an opera festival from 1890 to 1914. The Marquise, a talented soprano, welcomed all artistic and social Parisians there.

The park and gardens of the Château de Brissac allow you to take walks in the shade of hundred-year-old trees. The place representing a long flowered and shaded path along the Aubance river and near the ponds. The landscaped and agricultural park was created in 1880 for Jeanne Say, Marquise de Brissac by the landscape gardener Pierre-Auguste Killian and his successors. five centuries…”

The Château de Brissac, also has a tea room called Le Pavillon des Cèdres. The estate, faithful to the wine-growing tradition of the Angevin region, has a vineyard that brings to maturity a Rosé d’Anjou that the visitor can taste in the cellar. of the castle. Planted in 2002 to commemorate the 500 years’ family presence of the Cossé Brissac, the vine of five centuries stretches its ranks facing the colonnade of the mausoleum of the Dukes. The wines of the estate are the fruit of a 26-hectare vineyard which mainly produces rosé wines in AOC. They are presented to visitors during a tasting in the silence and meditation of the stone vaults of the cellar of the castle.

The official Château Brissac : https://chateau-brissac.fr/?lang=en

The city of Brissac Loire Aubance on its heritage : https://www.brissacloireaubance.fr/patrimoine-et-monuments/

There you go folks,recommended , really nice castle in the other Loire, Pays de la Loire, a lovely trip indeed in my belle France! Do come and enjoy the Château de Brissac!

And remember, happy travels, good health ,and many cheers to all!!!

On my road warrior campaigns in the Loire Valley i have to see many many castles of beauty beyond description even if I try, I heard about this castle and decided to give it a run; very impressive. This is a new text and older pictures but new in my blog ; see my previous post on the castle. This one is in the region of Pays de la Loire and the department 49 of Maine et Loire! I will be telling you a bit more about the Château de Brézé!

First, Brézé  became on January 1, 2019 a town delegate of new town of Bellevigne-les-Châteaux. A recurring phenomenon in my France. The Château of Brézé is a monument of which a vast underground gallery was discovered, a castle under the castle. It also has the deepest dry moat in Europe with their 18 meters. Worth the detour me think. The old town of Bréze is only 10 km from Saumur.

The first lords of Brézé made many donations to the Abbaye de Fontevraud,(see post) located nearby. Among the most famous lords, Louis de Brézé, who married Diane de Poitiers, (see post Anet) named Diane de Saint Vallier.

At the time of king Louis XVI, Henri Evrard de Dreux-Brézé, Grand Master of Ceremonies, took the decision to launch very substantial works. First of all, in order to enlarge the Renaissance part, subsequently his son and his grandson each in turn continued the work to transform the Château de Brézé into a neo-Gothic style castle. Within the castle, it is possible to visit the largest underground bakehouse in France, equipped with an impressive fireplace. The castle of a neo-Gothic style can be seen best by the Grand Gallery, the Square Tower and a rotunda at the base of the Clock Tower.

The largest troglodyte bakery in France is a monumental fireplace with three ovens in which bread and sweets were baked. This strange labyrinth leads to the room of the presses and that of the casks where the wine was once made. It also reveals a walkway, old stables and an astonishing cavity called Image Cathedrals. It is here, on the walls of the old seigneurial cellars, that Brézé is told in images projected over more than 4,000 m².

We thus enter the largest underground fortress in Europe, sculpted over kilometers of a network of cavities and tunnels. This troglodyte village has preserved its stables, its bakery, a 17C silkworm factory and the presses in which the most appreciated wine was made on the royal tables of the 15C. Even today, Château de Brézé cultivates its 28 hectares of vines and produces different cuvées that you will have plenty of time to taste. From the 16C, the cuvées from his vineyard were praised by King René of Anjou, then by the great poet Joachim du Bellay who dedicated these few lines to them: “His Nectar seasons us, Nectar gives it to us, My sweet vineyard Brézéen…” It is even said that this Saumur was one of king Louis XIV’s favorite wines! The reputation of the château’s wines is such that its barrels will be exchanged at equal value for those of the Château d’Yquem. The vineyard, planted with Chenin and Cabernet Franc, has the particularity of being made up of unique plots, each of which benefits from special care. Thus each cuvée bears the name of the plot from which it comes: Clos David, Clos de la Rue, Clos du Tue-Loup, Clos de l’Étoile and Clos Bonne-Nouvelle. Since 2009, the 28 hectares of vines have been oriented towards organic viticulture and biodynamics, in accordance with the noble currents of our time: working the vine while respecting it.

In 1959, Charlotte de Dreux-Brézé married Count Bernard de Colbert, a descendant of the great minister of king Louis XIV, Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Since then, the Château de Brézé has belonged to the same family, which puts all its passion into the renovation work of the château.

The official Château de Bréze : https://www.chateaudebreze.com/castle-france-loire-saumur.html

The Saumur tourist office on Bréze : https://www.ot-saumur.fr/BREZE_a13289.html

There you go folks, an additional info on the Château de Bréze again worth the detour to see this marvel of the outer limits of the Loire Valley in that other region of Pays de la Loire in my belle France!

And, remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!