Product Description

The French Chateau provides a privileged view into the special world that lies within France's grand historical houses, a view hitherto afforded only to a selected circle of the French aristocracy and their friends. These stately residences are not dusty uninhabited museums, but real homes. Christiane de Nicolay-Mazery, herself born and brought up in her family's magnificent property at Montfort-le-Rotrou, takes us across France to visit the great chateaux she knows so well, giving us an intimate view of the unique way of life that goes on in them through the seasons. In the spring we attend a wedding at Jean de Beistegui's Chateau de Groussay. We see the drawing-rooms, bedrooms, linen-room, hot-house and orangery of Le Lude in the company of the Comtesse de Nicolay. In summer we visit the Chateau d'Haroue in Lorraine as guests of the Princesse de Beauvau-Craon. In autumn we follow the hunt with the Marquis and Marquise de Brissac, returning for dinner to the Chateau de Brissac. Baron Eric de Rothschild opens his cellars to us at Chateau Lafite. We celebrate the onset of winter with a boar hunt at the Chateau de Courances, lunching in the forest in the company of the Marquis and Marquise de Ganay. The lustrous colour photographs of Jean-Bernard Naudin capture all the beauty and charm of these chateaux and the elegant lifestyle of their inhabitants.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1341483 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-26
• Original language: French
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From Library Journal
The subtitle aptly depicts the content of this photo essay, which reveals intimate details of family life in the French chateau of today. We are invited inside the princely residences of several contemporary French families to catch a glimpse of their way of life. No architectural odyssey this; often we're not even shown a picture of the chateau itself. But what treasures await us inside! A cook ushers us into the kitchen, a maid takes us on a tour of the linen room, a butler allows us to view the china cabinet. Then we sit down to dinner with crystal goblets ablaze from the candles illuminating the entire room. Naudin's dazzling photographs also lead us outside to the kitchen gardens, a hunt, and a formal wedding. Though anecdotal historical commentary is provided for each chateau, a fairy-tale quality pervades these settings; often, we don't even know their location on the map. Recommended for readers who enjoy a look at the good life.
- Edward B. Cone, New York
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Miami Herald
Full of history about the châteaux and the families who lived in them long ago and today.

Chicago Tribune
Gorgeous color photos capture the beauty of the interiors and exteriors.