Book review of One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

Things aren’t going well for travel writer Orla Bradbee.

With Christmas fast approaching, her boss is insisting Orla must travel to a rural village in France to interview a man who doesn’t speak. But with trouble at home – her teenage sister Erin is in a ‘situationship’ with a man online – Orla’s only plan is to take Erin with her.

Get the interview done, find out more about this online Romeo and still be back in time for Christmas dinner. Easy, right?

Saint-Chambéry is a picturesque French village nestled in the snow-capped mountains, but Jacques Barbier – gorgeous and brooding, yet a man of few words – makes it clear that Orla is wasting her time here.

Orla can’t deny that Jacques intrigues and infuriates her, but what is the mysterious Frenchman hiding exactly? And can she get close enough to uncover his secrets without risking her own heart?

Escape to the beautiful French Alps with Mandy Baggot for a romantic, heartwarming story to get you through the cold winter months! 

One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

My review

A last-minute assignment couldn’t have come at a worse time for Orla. As she uncovered one family issue after another, the last thing she wanted was to be sent on a wild goose-chase to the French mountains. However, the longer she was there, breathing in the crisp mountain air, the clearer she began to see things about her life. 

Jacques was an enigma from the beginning and getting to the bottom of his backstory kept me turning the pages, even when I should have been doing other things. For someone who was always 100% in control of himself and his surroundings, being thrown together with Orla in the run up to Christmas rocked his world in more ways than one. Meeting in such an unusual way, proved to be a timely reminder for both Jacques and Orla, how routine their lives had become and how this had led them to lose their spark for life.

One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

I instantly felt at home in the Alpine village of Saint-Chambéry, its quirky community felt rather familiar having lived in a rural French village for over twenty years. The characters were a great mix of interfering, yet caring and always proud of their traditions. Life here brought plenty of smiles to my face, especially the antics of those who have the community’s best interests at heart. Delphine in particular is someone I will remember fondly for her stubbornness and the delicious drinks served from her café. 

I also loved the teenagers, Erin, Tommy and Burim. Their take on life and the issues and emotions going on around them was insightful, their astuteness was something else and despite the serious nature of some of the topics, I couldn’t help but smile at them and the way they trumped their older siblings so effortlessly. 

This book was a real heartwarming read. Everyone learned something about themselves and those around them, and when things got serious the community came together to help and support each other. Add in a bit of Alpine magic to add sparkle to the dark days and you have a book as comforting as a hot chocolate after a frosty morning walk. 

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Mandy Baggot

Author Bio  

Mandy Baggot is a bestselling romance writer who loves giving readers that happy-ever-after. From sunshine romantic comedies set in Greece, to cosy curl-up winter reads, she's bringing gorgeous heroes and strong heroines readers can relate to. Mandy splits her time between Salisbury, Wiltshire and Corfu, Greece and has a passion for books, food, racehorses and all things Greek!

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One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

Book review of You had me at Château by Portia MacIntosh

You had me at Château by Portia MacIntosh

You had me at Château by Portia MacIntosh

Romantic comedy writer Amber Page is stuck in a rut.

After her editor tells her she needs to "up the spice" in her books (literally Amber's worst nightmare...), she is at a crossroads of what to do with her career.

When the opportunity arises to go on a writer's retreat at an exclusive château in the beautiful French Alps, Amber reluctantly agrees, hoping a change of scenery will help with inspiration.

While she tries and fails to spice up her writing - with the unhelpful guidance of the eccentric romance writers at the château - she meets two leading men who cause her own real-life romantic comedy to unfold...

A laugh-out-loud love triangle, forced proximity romantic comedy from million-copy bestseller Portia MacIntosh.

You had me at Château by Portia MacIntosh

My review

I bonded with Amber from the beginning of this book. Her life seemed to be one disaster after another, starting with her parents announcing a pre-divorce, a disastrous meeting with her editor - who she isn’t seeing eye to eye with, and the simmering stress of her writing not going anywhere and her deadline fast approaching. What should have been the opportunity of a lifetime, to join her respected contemporaries at a writing retreat in the French Alps, revealed things aren’t always how you imagine them to be, especially when they were reluctant to let her into their established friendship circle.

Luckily, as she stumbles from one nightmare situation to another, there are lots of laughs to diffuse the tension, and she has her brother Tom to sound out on about their parents.  Then there is the resort she is sent to, which is a picture-perfect Christmas wonderland, with snowy scenes outside, crackling log fires inside and delicious food at every mealtime. Add into the mix an unlikely friendship with famous influencer Caleb, who she had met in the most hilarious of situations, and the strange world she finds herself transported to, doesn’t seem so bad after all.

You had me at Château by Portia MacIntosh

I loved this book, devouring it in a matter of hours, but it was the humour that was the icing on the cake for me. I’m not always convinced by book blurb that claims ‘laugh out loud’ but I can’t think of a better way to describe the snorting and chuckling this book caused me. Do read this book, but it’s probably better not to read it in quiet public spaces.

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French Village Diaries is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk at no extra cost to you.

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Portia MacIntosh

Author Bio  

Portia MacIntosh is the bestselling author of over 20 romantic comedy novels. From disastrous dates to destination weddings, Portia’s romcoms are the perfect way to escape from day to day life, visiting sunny beaches in the summer and snowy villages at Christmas time. Whether it’s southern Italy or the Yorkshire coast, Portia’s stories are the holiday you’re craving, conveniently packed in between the pages.

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You had me at Château by Portia MacIntosh

 

Book review of Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel by Rebecca Raisin

Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel by Rebecca Raisin

Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel by Rebecca Raisin

Turn a tumbledown Paris hotel into a perfect boutique, bookish retreat, and have it open for Christmas? What could possibly go wrong?

When Anais receives a near-derelict Paris hotel in her divorce settlement, her first thought is to tidy it up and sell it immediately. All she wants is to move on and forget her disaster of a marriage ever happened.

But selling it proves impossible, so she has only one option: to make it gorgeous and open by Christmas… when her funds will almost certainly run out.

She’s not counting on the grumpy American bar-owner next door, Noah, coming and interfering at every moment though. Nor is she expecting to find a mysterious room – which holds the key to a one-hundred-year-old secret – about a woman who chose love against the odds.

One thing’s for sure… as the fairy lights twinkle all over the city of lights and the first snowflakes start to fall… this will be a Christmas in Paris to remember.

A totally gorgeous, escapist romantic comedy, with an unforgettable mystery! A perfect festive read for fans of Emily Henry and Sarah Morgan to curl up with this winter.

Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel by Rebecca Raisin

My review

Romance author, Anais is well shot of her phoney ex-husband, but the only thing she has walked away with in the divorce settlement is a run-down boutique hotel in Paris and a simmering anger towards overbearing men. With her cousin Manon by her side, she is determined to get the hotel partially renovated and open before Christmas, with her ultimate goal being to show others it has potential, sell it and finally move on from a few traumatic years. 

The hotel, however, has other ideas. As the renovations begin, it slowly reveals secrets from its past, including a literary mystery that needs unravelling and solving. With a little help from her friends, Anais begins to heal her broken heart, bring the hotel back to its former glory and discovers a romance or two along the way. 

Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel by Rebecca Raisin

This book was an absolute delight for a literary nerd like me, containing references to some of the great Parisian novels from the past as well as cameo appearances from the characters in A Love Letter to Paris, one of my favourite books this summer, also by Rebecca Raisin – but that is not all. Two of my favourite ‘new life in Paris’ memoirs also get a starring role; Paris Letters by Janice Macleod (that I read and reviewed on the blog in 2014) and the emotionally honest Meet Me in Paris (2015) by Juliette Sobanet (whose romance novel Sleeping with Paris just happened to be my first introduction to kindle ebooks a very long time ago).  It was a stroke of genius and I can’t describe how wide the grin was on my face as I read this book.

With local knowledge of the Christmas hotspots and Parisian literary must-sees, I am sure anyone who loves the magic of Paris will fall under the spell of this book like I did. My only disappointment was that I couldn’t get straight on to Booking.com and reserve a suite for a romantic weekend away this winter. 

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French Village Diaries is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk at no extra cost to you.

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Rebecca Raisin

Author Bio  

Rebecca Raisin writes heartwarming romance from her home in sunny Perth, Australia. Her heroines tend to be on the quirky side and her books are usually set in exotic locations so her readers can armchair travel any day of the week.

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You can read my reviews of some of Rebecca’s previous novels here:

A Love Letter to Paris 

Elodie’s Library of Second Chances 

Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel by Rebecca Raisin

Advent day twenty-four, Happy Christmas to you all

Happy Christmas

Advent day twenty-four

Happy Christmas Eve and thank you for being a part of our French village life for another year. 

 

I just love this silly selfie we took on yesterday’s bike ride. It just about sums up our cycling year, smiles, blue skies, sunshine and rain. All being well, tomorrow will see me going over the 6000km mark on my Brompton (since 1^st January 2023) and it's been a blast.

 

Our Christmas Eve began with a bike ride – how I wish I could say that about every day of the year. It was just a short 16km round trip into Chef-Boutonne to ensure we had a lovely, seeded baguette for our picnic lunch tomorrow, and wouldn’t run out of dog food. For a Sunday morning, the small town of Chef-Boutonne was buzzing! There were queues at the butchers, the oyster stall was busy and by the time I came out of the boulangerie, the queue had spread across the pavement. I’d got chatting to a British couple in the queue, his opening comment being “you look so happy and excited”. Now, I’m not the most Christmassy of people, our decorations and celebrations are rather low key when compared to many households, and I had no idea how much happiness was radiating from me, but I’m glad it was. I think the lesson here is to never underestimate the power of a bike ride, however short or routine, to put you in a good mood. 

 

I hope you have enjoyed my Advent postcards, highlighting some of the interesting, remarkable, arty, or historical loveliness we’ve discovered in 2023 on our cycling adventures. I’ve certainly loved revisiting them when writing the posts. Some of these places are local to the Deux-Sèvres, some a long way from home. Some are places we’ve stumbled on as part of day trips, others on our cycle touring adventures to celebrate our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary year. Despite staying away in twelve different towns or cities (ten of which were in France), I purposely only included the villages or small towns we’ve visited in my postcards. It seemed more fitting for a blog called French Village Diaries. I think they have proven that slow travel on the lesser pedalled roads is incredibly rewarding. I do hope some of them have sparked an interest and inspire you to stop and explore next time you are on the road in France.

 

Happy Christmas to you all. 

Advent postcards, Javarzay, Chef-Boutonne, Deux-Sèvres

 

Advent postcard, Javarzay, Deux-Sèvres

Advent day eighteen

It wasn’t just the under tens in our village who got an early Christmas gift from Père Noël yesterday, we had our own reason to celebrate as Adrian’s mum was visiting for a long weekend. This is her first trip to France since 2019 and as we won’t be travelling to the UK this Christmas, we made the most of being able to have an early family celebration.

 

It was a busy weekend, taking in the Christmas market and lights in Poitiers on Saturday and taking her on a guided visit of Chef-Boutonne and Javarzay on Sunday afternoon. The Château de Javarzay may not be open, but we peered in the windows and had a good wander of the grounds, the lavoirs (wash houses), churches and the Boutonne river – which I’ve never seen so flooded. The sluice gates were all open and the power and speed of the water cascading through was mesmerising, and so very different from the gentle stream I’m used to seeing at work all summer. There is a mark on the wall of one lavoir showing the height of the flooding in 1982 and the water levels are currently only a few centimetres lower, with most of the features of the lavoir under water. 

 

Wanting to remember the heat of the summer, I’ve picked some sunny photos for my advent postcard today, with blue skies, pretty flowers and the golden hew of the stonework. 

We returned home with fresh faces for hot chocolate and homemade mincepies and later tucked into our version of a Christmas Day dinner. There was turkey, braised red cabbage, sprouts and other seasonal vegetables, but served as a risotto with side dishes. I’m not one to do things by the rules and as you can see, all plates were empty, so it went down well and was so much less hassle than a roast dinner.

An early family Christmas meal - the posed selfie

 

An early family Christmas meal - the empty plates

 

Advent postcards, Père Noël visits our village

Advent postcard, Père Noël visits our village

Advent day seventeen

Today’s cycling advent-ures postcard is from our village. Today is one of my favourite volunteering days of the year – the day Père Noël visits every child aged ten and under.

 

A few weeks ago, a small team of us visited a local toy shop to buy the thirty-seven gifts, which were wrapped and delivered to the village by their staff. 

 

Two days ago, we all met up to decorate the commune’s white van and convert it into a mobile grotto for Père and Mère Noël.

 

This afternoon, our little convoy of me and my decorated Brompton, a car with a sound system blaring out Christmas tunes, and the mobile grotto made our way slowly around the village spreading smiles. So many happy small people, faces alight when they heard us arrive and parents wishing us a happy Christmas and thanking us. It was a great way to spend a few hours. 

Advent postcards, La Faye, Charente

 

Advent postcard, La Faye, Charente

Advent day 15

We are not travelling too far from home for today’s cycling advent-ures postcard, but it’s still a village with a story to tell.

 

La Faye, situated just under five kilometres from Ruffec is somewhere that holds special memories for us as it has become our tradition to spend Christmas Day lunch there. We wrap up warmly, pack our posh picnic and cycle to La Faye, where there is the most perfect of picnic spots. The sturdy table is not just under cover but is also protected on two sides by the renovated village bread oven. The spire of the church surveys the scene and there is even a toilet in the car park and a baguette vending machine for our fresh bread. We couldn’t really ask for more, but this year the commune have dug a pond next to the bread oven, so we might even get ducks to feed this Christmas.

 

This September we made another visit to La Faye, in the footsteps once again of my favourite French industrialist Jean-François Cail. It seemed rather bizarre that we had travelled hundreds of kilometres to visit his iron railway bridge in Moulins, but we’d never seen the agricultural domaine he set up near Ruffec in 1853. Despite having left the area as a teenager and made his fortune in Paris and the north of France, he retired to La Faye and its impressive manor house, situated only twenty kilometres from where he was born in Chef-Boutonne (in 1804).

 

He chose the land as he could easily make the journey by train from Paris to Ruffec and although the soil and the buildings were in a poor state when he bought them, he expanded the farm from 160 ha to 308 ha. He radically moved away from traditional cereals and the crops to feed cattle, planting beets and installing a distillery to turn them into alcohol, something that would have been a risky decision in an area so close to Cognac. He died at La Faye in 1871. 

The farm might have changed radically in the last hundred and fifty-two years, but some of the farm buildings and the manor house are still there. It seemed fitting to pause for a moment before continuing on 112km birthday bike ride.

Book review This Christmas in Paris by Sophie Claire

This Christmas in Paris by Sophie Claire

This Christmas in Paris by Sophie Claire

What could be more magical than Christmas in Paris? 

 

When Carys is offered the chance to run a little French café, she leaps at the chance to discover an exciting city where she can dream big. Meanwhile, struggling journalist Mat is living in the City of Love - but he's never found romance himself. Then, a chance encounter changes everything, and it feels like the start of something wonderful. But Carys and Mat are both keeping secrets . . . Can they open their hearts to one another - and maybe even find love, just in time for Christmas?

 

This Christmas in Paris is the perfect festive read for fans of Cathy Bramley, Jo Thomas and Heidi Swain.

This Christmas in Paris by Sophie Claire

 

My Review

I always look forward to a Christmas romance from Sophie Claire and in This Christmas in Paris, we follow Carys, who made a brief appearance in A Winter’s Dream.

 

Carys is escaping. Much as she loves the village of Willowbrook, following a serious car accident, she feels the only way to escape people treating her differently is to make a new start in a new place. The opportunity to run a quirky café in Paris is too good not to jump at with enthusiasm, even if she has more of that than experience. As she faces the challenges of staffing issues, customer numbers and rolling out her fresh ideas at the café, what she hadn’t expected to feel in the city, was loneliness. A chance meeting in a park, that leads to a friendship with Mat, is the perfect antidote to the stresses of work.

 

Journalist Mat is not happy. His job is thankless and getting him nowhere, but he too has a plan B, a secret persona whose reputation around Paris is growing rapidly and could be the start of a bright new future – a future he would love to share with Carys.

 

Mat and Carys decide to keep their work lives out of their weekly Sunday meetings, which was both cautious and romantic, until it had huge consequences. As a fan of the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan film “You’ve Got Mail” I was thoroughly entertained by the similarities and references made to it during this book. The ups and downs in both their work and social life kept me turning the pages as I tried to guess how things would pan out for them both and if they could ever find a happy ever after.

 

Written with a lot of humour and some heart-tugging emotions, it was great to be back in a Sophie Claire book, set in Paris, with a festive feel. Pour yourself a hot chocolate and enjoy this book, served with the French patisserie of your choice.

 

You can read my reviews of Sophie’s other novels here:

A Winter’s Dream

The Christmas Holiday

An Escape to Provence

Summer at the French Olive Grove

A Forget-me-not Summer

 

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Author Bio 

 

Sophie Claire, born to a French mother and Scottish father, grew up in Manchester where she still lives with her husband and two sons.

 

She writes stories centred around France, where she spent her summers as a child.

 

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Advent Day Twenty-four, it's a wrap

Advent Day Twenty-four, it's a wrap

Advent Day Twenty-four

It’s a wrap

Writing is my way of coping when things get a little frantic and out of control, so these daily advent posts have helped me remain calm and focussed in the run up to Christmas, and I hope you have enjoyed them. 

 

Making memories

There were two main reasons I started writing this blog over fifteen years ago. One was to keep family and friends in the UK up to date with our new life in France and the other was to ensure I didn’t forget the adventures we were having. During the pandemic, it felt even more important to record what we did each day during lockdown, and how we were coping. As the months moved on, it was easy to forget those extraordinary early days.

 

Ed has always been relaxed about having his life, since he was about five years old, shared, which I’m really grateful about, and he’s inspired another story. A few weeks ago, he called on a Monday night to say he’d just tested positive for Covid-19, but not to panic as he was feeling fine and better than he had over the weekend when his mild cold-like symptoms began. Luckily it was a video call, and it was reassuring to see that he didn’t look or sound poorly. 

 

A few days later he messaged again, to say he was reading through some of my old blog posts – I suppose you have to find something to fill your days when you are isolating. When I asked him which ones, he replied he'd searched for his name on the blog and was happily reading through some of the posts this had offered, many going back ten years or so. When I asked why, he simply said, “because they are my memories too and I've already forgotten some of the things, like a big storm the day I started boarding at lycée”. 

 

You have no idea how happy this made me, and it reinforced the importance of keeping some form of diary, especially to record the everyday events that are easy to forget. 

 

All that is left for me to say now is that I hope you have a lovely Christmas, wherever in the world you are, and you get to make lots of memories with those you love. For my friends over in the US hit by the extreme weather, I’m sending you warm thoughts and lots of love. Stay safe.

Happy Christmas 

Happy Christmas

Advent Day Twenty-three, seeing the light

Christmas lights

Advent Day Twenty-three

Seeing the light

Light is important at this time of year, and with the solstice this week, we (in the northern hemisphere) can celebrate those precious extra minutes of daylight each day. In the nativity, it was a bright light that announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds and even with the energy crisis, Christmas lights are popping up everywhere. These can be anything from a simple advent candle to a house and garden flashing away and visible from space. In the last few weeks, my Mum has attended a couple of Light up a Life services where candles have been lit to remember loved ones who have died this year.

 

A December rainbow

Our region of France has a small number of unusual historical features called lanternes des morts. These lanterns are tall, thin needles of stone with a cross and an opening at the top, that date from the 11^th to 13^th centuries. Traditionally found in cemeteries, they were lit when someone died and are thought to have helped guide the soul to its final place of rest. Many were destroyed during the Revolution and others were lost when the original cemeteries they were constructed in were moved to larger plots further out of town, meaning those still in existence are quite rare. There is one in a cemetery in Poitiers that when we drove past it this week, I noticed was lit. As there is still quite a lot unknown about them, I find them fascinating and will always try to detour a bike ride to visit one.

 

La Souterraine Lanterne des Morts

This year we have also seen the one in La Souterraine, in the Creuse and Sarlat, in the Dordogne. In La Souterraine, the lantern is fairly typical, with a hexagonal column, topped by a pyramid and a cross and set in the centre of the cemetery, although it’s only been in this location since 1850.

Sarlat Lanterne des Morts

 

The one in Sarlat differs to most of the others we have come across as it has a domed roof, typical of the Perigordian church turrets, and is much larger and more rounded. It is said to have been built to commemorate the miracle of Saint Bernard de Clairvaux and the healing loaves. Returning from the crusades, according to the legend, St Bernard passed through Sarlat and blessed bread that went on to cure the sick or injured who ate it. It is certainly worth a visit if you are in Sarlat.

 

I’ve had a lightbulb moment this week and am now convinced that not only do I feel better and sleep better if I’ve been out on the bike, but that there is also a direct correlation between pedalling and my brain’s ability to remember things. Basically, for every day without a bike ride, my brain cells are dying off - eek!

 

On this day in 1888 Vincent Van Gogh cut off his left ear. Was it madness or because of an argument with Paul Gauguin? Or maybe it was the stress of Christmas that drove him to it, or simply the fact that he hadn’t been out on his bike. 

Advent Day Twenty-one, Christmas at the Château

Christmas at the Château de Dampierre-sur-Boutonne

Advent Day Twenty-one 

Christmas at the Château

The Château de Javarzay might well be silently hibernating, but just a bit further along the Boutonne river there is another beautiful Renaissance château that is opening its doors with a festive twist in the run up to Christmas and New Year. A few weekends ago, we treated ourselves to a lovely Sunday afternoon outing, looking around the Château de Dampierre-sur-Boutonne. 

 

The main difference between the two châteaux is that whereas Javarzay is owned by the local council and houses a fully up to date multi-media museum experience, Dampierre is owned by a couple who live onsite and is furnished as you would expect for a period property. Even before we’d stepped inside, there was a certain magic to the place, and I was keen to compare and contrast the visitor experience, as I am ashamed to admit that even after eighteen years in this area, this was my first visit inside this château.

Château de Dampierre-sur-Boutonne

 

We are no strangers to the village of Dampierre-sur-Boutonne, as it is a handy morning coffee stop for our annual one-hundred kilometres in a day bike ride that follows the Rives de Boutonne cycle route to Saint Jean d’Angély. It did seem a bit weird driving there rather than arriving by bike, but with the shorter days and colder temperatures, a sixty-kilometre day on the bikes and a château visit, was probably pushing it a bit. On the back-road drive, the copper-leaved forests gave way to villages, where starlings lining the telephone wires looked like strings of sparkly fairy lights in the sunshine, but the smoke rising from chimneys gave a more accurate picture of the weather that was a fresh 6º outside. Adrian suddenly brought the car to a halt, explaining “woah, look at that!”. Hurtling past in a field to our left was an enormous wild boar. Sundays are hunt days here and bit further on we saw some hunter’s vans parked up in the woods. Chances are he had been flushed out, but he seemed to have put quite a bit of distance between himself and the madmen, so fingers crossed this time it was Piggy 1 Hunters 0.

 

The festive touches at the château included a small Christmas market set up in the Orangery, that gave us a covid-safe shopping opportunity, and the château was decorated in a certain style that made us smile. As well as grand salons with antique furniture and impressive Christmas trees whose scent filled the space, and were decorated with just enough sparkle, there were hilarious touches too.

Christmas Gingerbread at Dampierre-sur-Boutonne

My favourite had to be the cardboard gingerbread man popping out of an antique vase, but it was the suit of armour wearing his Santa hat at a jaunty angle and a dangling bauble that made my friend cry with laughter. 

 

Chevalier de Noel at Dampierre-sur-Boutonne

There has been a château in Dampierre since the year 995, but the Hundred Years’ war (1337-1453) left the medieval château badly damaged. It was rebuilt in the Renaissance style, on the banks of the Boutonne river, by François de Clermont after he fell in love with the Italian Renaissance châteaux on a visit to Italy with the King of France. 

 

The upper gallery at Dampierre-sun-Boutonne

It was the decoratively carved stone ceiling of the upper gallery, that dates from the mid 1500’s, that really caught my eye. One visit wasn’t enough to take in all the emblems, mottos and symbols that would have proved to all visitors that this family had style and money. The recurring H & C entwinned letters also prove the Clermont family were loyal to Henri II and Catherine Medici and under their Royal protection. There was so much history, I was in my element and will have to return for another visit. 

The château grounds at Dampierre

 

The grounds at Dampierre are also worth taking your time to explore. There is a moat, a labyrinth, and formal gardens set on islands. Everywhere I looked there were hidden treasures like dragons, swords and a giant chess set. 

 

It is difficult to compare to the museum housed in the Château de Javarzay, as in my opinion, both warrant a visit. How about combining the two with a weekend discovering some of the treasures of the Boutonne?

 

You can read more about the Château on their website here and if you are local, the château is open from 14h to 17h30 on 21^st, 22^nd, 27^th, 28^th and 29^th December.

 

 

Christmas at the Château de Dampierre