This was a historical visit lol! Actually passed by it several times and never got in until one day we had time and finally went in!! It was a memorable visit and we remember fondly especially the garden with my dear late wife Martine. Thereafter we came several times. I have found me a picture in my cd rom vault , that should be in my blog for you and me,and the reason of this additional post, Therefore, here is my take again on the Château de La Roche Guyon , part II !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The Château de La Roche-Guyon is located in the town of La Roche-Guyon in the Val-d’Oise dept no, 95 ,of the Île de France region of my belle France, It sits on the border of Normandy, on the right bank of the Seine river. The old ruined fortified castle, dominated by its keep at the top of the hill, received significant additions in the 18C at the foot of the hill, as well as a formal French garden and vegetable patch. I have written plenty on the history so will skip most of this section see part I,
In 1733, the castle was given a monumental Baroque entrance pierced into its eastern rampart, leading to a grand staircase giving access to the guardroom and the reception rooms. In 1739, the main courtyard was surrounded by outbuildings that replaced the old medieval structures. However, the lower courtyard still retained its medieval appearance, so it was decided to also redevelop it. The Duke commissioned the architect Louis Villars, who built stables to the east from 1740 to 1745, very similar to those of Chantilly in style and dimensions; the central gate is surmounted by a sculted rearing horse ,. A large entrance gate was installed, crowned with the ducal crown and the coat of arms of the La Rochefoucauld family. Two new pavilions were then added to the castle, the Villars pavilion (or Fernand pavilion) on the site of an old round tower ,and the Enville pavilion, built in an “L” shape around a courtyard. In 1741, a small observatory was created on the western terrace.
The Duchess’s salon was frequented by great minds of the Age of Enlightenment, such as Turgot, who stayed there for seven months in 1776 after his disgrace, Condorcet (in 1785 and 1791), the English agronomist Arthur Young, the painter Hubert Robert, who at one point had a workshop in the castle, and also d’Alembert, the Choiseul family, and the Rohan family. On October 2, 1793, the General Council of Seine-et-Oise ordered the destruction of the keep to prevent it from falling into the hands of counter-revolutionaries. The keep was demolished by a third, so that it now measures only twenty meters, but the work was not completed, the demolishers having apparently quickly grown tired of the task. The fallen stones then constituted cheap building materials and were used to erect other buildings in the village, a common practice at that time, as stone was scarce and expensive. In 1819, Lamartine spent Holy Week in La Roche-Guyon, where he wrote one of his Poetic Meditations. In 1821 and again in 1835, Victor Hugo stayed in the town, first as a guest at the castle of Cardinal de Rohan, whom he had met two years earlier at the Saint-Sulpice seminary, and then fourteen years later at the inn.
This historical monument, property of the House of La Rochefoucauld, is now managed by a public cultural cooperation establishment (EPCC) bringing together the Val d’Oise department, the town of La Roche-Guyon, the joint syndicate for the development and management of the Vexin français regional natural park, and the State.
The official Château de La Roche Guyon: https://www.chateaudelarocheguyon.fr/
The Plus Beaux Villages de France on La Roche Guyon : https://www.les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org/fr/nos-villages/la-roche-guyon/
The town of La Roche Guyon on its heritage : https://www.larocheguyon.fr/en/services/decouvrir-la-roche-guyon-a-pied
There you go folks, this is a nice wonderful historical spot and a historical place to visit and the views over the garden and into the Seine river are sublime. Again, hope you enjoy the Château de La Roche Guyon, part II !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 