Chateau du Rivau

Caroline's family bought Chateau du Rivau back in 1992. Despite its historic significance, it was in disrepair. Her father's business is to buy historic buildings in disrepair and restore them to their original condition. The chateau is the 

capstone of his life's work. Eric's excellent taste and attention to detail are apparent everywhere you look. Caroline's mother helped enormously, and continues to put in long hours to maintain and improve the place. Patricia was already a well educated art expert, and with the Rivau, she became a gardening and landscaping expert as well. She was able to combine these passions- art and gardening- here at Le Rivau with great success.

Cambria and I have been blown away by the beauty of the place. I came here 15 years ago during my European backpacking tour, but the renovations were not complete at that time. Only now can I really appreciate all of the hard work that went into this place by the whole Laugneau family.

Here is a visual tour of this wonderful castle and its gardens, a place we are lucky to call home for the next few days.

It is a 15th century medieval castle, just outside of Chinon in the Loire Valley. Rabelais mentions it in his classic, "Gargantua" and it is where Joan of Arc came for war horses before her historic march against the British at Orleans.

The moat is dry now, with a beautiful lawn instead of water:

At night, the tower is lit up;

The courtyard is overflowing with seasonal fruit and vegetables (it is pumpkin and squash season now):

The gardens are filled with modern art, like these giant boots:

And these hammocks to rest in:

And this fairy tale boot in the courtyard:

Cam found the princess tower:

And then climbed it to take a shot of Jon getting lost in the maze:

They have an aviary dedicated to the mythical Phoenix. 

With Phoenix pheasants inside:

And other beautiful pheasants as well:

And this one, that Jon called "Donald Trump":

The enchanted forest has walking trees (of course):

Here is the "dovery" which is essentially a  

medieval hen house for doves. When livestock was scarce, the nobles could rely on doves for meat:

The flowers are spectacular:

As are the tomatoes growing on the building walls:

Inside the castle, the Laigneaus have set aside four rooms for the public, and kept the rest of the building as their private residence.

Here is Caroline unlocking the door to the private part of the castle, as she gives us the "nothing is off limits" tour:

The Laigneau family comes from several generations of hunters. Caroline's grandmother on her mother's side was a legendary hunter. Note the Cape Water Buffalo and the elephant tusk:

A grizzly bear:

The antique hunting rifles:

The moose:

Here is her grandmother's bedroom:

The castle living room with very modern furniture:

Furniture that Cam and Caroline felt the need to play on. Sitting on mushrooms is always fun, right ladies?

Here is the master bedroom:

And master bathroom, up in the circular tower with the bath right in the center:

Eric was a bullfighter for many years until his shoulder got hurt. He was gored by several bulls as well. Patricia gave him this bike (he is an excellent cyclist, with many impressive times up to the summit of Haleakala) to marry his love of cycling and bullfighting. The handlebars are bull horns and the seat is a bull's skull:

The stables that held Joan of Arc's horses have been restored and now have a projector video on the walls that takes you through the whole story:

We take our meals in "Le Petit Maison" (a little country house) next to the castle. It is off limits to the public:

It has a pool out back and we have lunch on the deck:

The inside feels like Chez Panisse in Berkeley:

And we are staying in a beautiful room above the stables (our room is on the top floor, second window from the left):

Here is the view from the bedroom:

The castle is surrounded by gorgeous French countryside. Before dinner this evening, I wanted to get a shot of the sunset over the fields, so i walked down this little path:

And came to this field which happens to be corn, but there is wheat, sunflowers, and lots of other beautiful crops to help you daydream as you drive along:

Tomorrow I wake up and ride bikes with Eric and Aurel through this countryside. Good night!