Just 20 miles southwest of the Haras du Pin, where we spent an afternoon seeing that spectacular horse show I blogged about a few weeks ago, stands the 14th-century Château de Carrouges. It's a striking brick complex with a Renaissance-era entry tower (un châtelet) and a moat (des douves). I've been lucky to be able to visit Carrouges four times since 2001. It's about half an hour's drive from the big town of Alençon in lower Normandy.
like most of these old buildings, has been modified and expanded over the centuries.
in the 12th century and then destroyed by the English at the beginning of the 100 Years' War (1337–1453).
The Wikipédia article about it describes it as a château de plaisance.
the château when the Carrouges family line died off because of a lack of male heirs.
Other Norman families occupied the château over the centuries.
the cities of Rouen and Beauvais, which were judged to be in danger of being destroyed or stolen.
That's when I took the photos above (except the first one). We were driving from Rouen down to Vouvray,
where Walt and I had rented a gîte for a two-week stay. It was because we enjoyed that vacation
(and an earlier one) in Vouvray so much that we ended up relocating to the Loire Valley in 2003.
Yes, I remember that epic trip from Rouen to Vouvray and the numerous, and that is an understatement, srops along the way.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is twenty years ago, I recall vividly Gacé, Médavy, O and Carrouges where we stopped the longest.
I can tell that was the Lumix
DeleteNo, it was a Kodak camera, the DC4800, that I used for a few years. My first Lumix was several years later.
DeleteI don’t know what’s going on with this first comment. I’m using a tablet I didn’t use for a year and it is “new and improved” which it means it is a mess, everything is changed. I shouldn’t have updated it!
DeleteWell, the photos are excellent, so sharp!
DeleteDid you get your 10-inch iPad back? Good if you did. That Kodak DC4800 took excellent pictures. I gave it to my mother, and she still had it when she died in 2018. I took some photos with it in 2015 or 2016, and they were good.
DeleteWe made a risotto aux asperges violettes for lunch and it was excellent.
Yes, I got the big ipad last year,but I use it rarely because it is too heavy to use in bed. This one is a mini I bought in Paris when I thought the other one was caput. This one, that I’m using right now, had a newer ios that I needed for some websites. I really don’t like the “improvements”.
DeleteFunny, I have almost identical photos of Carrouges. And of la Haras du Pin.
ReplyDeleteSeeing that chateau would definitely make me want to move to the Loire Valley. Absolutely beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThe châtelet at Carrouges reminds me of the one at Dampiere in the Champagne region where the owner of the château rushed in his car to get me out of his property!
ReplyDeleteThe chatelet is perfection, beautiful warm brick work and precise renaissance architecture.
ReplyDeleteEight chateaux in a day is a lot. Why did the owner at Dampiere try to run you two off?
The owner tried to run CHM over with his little car. CHM had gone through the gate onto the property. The gate was wide open. I stayed back and just watched the scene unfold.
DeleteKen, I just checked your post on Dampierre {there are two chateauc of the same name}, and the châtelet at Carrouges is so much better.
DeleteOooh, nice!
ReplyDeleteLoved visiting here!
ReplyDelete