Diane De Poitiers

Photo via Wikipedia

Her early life...

Diane de Poitiers was born Sept. 3, 1499 in the château de Saint-Vallier, in the Rhône-Alpes region of France. At the age of 15, she married a man 39 years older, Louis de Brézé, seigneur d'Anet and had two daughters with him. Louis de Brézé died in 1531 in Anet (it's just beautiful, I can't wait to do a post o it), Diane took up black as her main colour of dress for the rest of her life, adding later some white and grey. Her shrewd knowledge in financial matters and legal issues became apparent after his death as she fought to retain her late husband’s title of "sénéchale de Normandie" which she accomplished.

She was a wonderful hunter and sportswoman and it is recorded that she kept a very fit body and stunning good looks well into her late years.

Portrait hanging at Chenonceau

Her life with Henri...

She was appointed to head the royal nursery. It is here that young eight year old Henri (son of Francois I) grew attached to Diane. Having lost his mother, Diane was his sole source of comfort and love. As the years progressed Henri fell madly in love Diane, nearly 20 years older than him . Henri was only 14 at the time and he made his devotion to the new widow clear.They were not lovers yet but this chivalrous admiration would grow into one of the most powerful love affairs of the age.

In 1533 Henry was married to the daughter of a Florentine merchant, Catherine de Medici. Poor Catherine with her plan face could not hold a candle to the beautiful Diane de Poitiers or her bond with Henri. Diane would play a huge role in their marriage, overseeing their households, royal children and even state of affairs. Through it all Catherine smiled plotted, waiting for the right time to strike down her enemy.

Chateua d'Anet photo from Architect design

I had no idea but, Diane was actually Catherine's older cousin.

When Henri became Henri II, King of France Diane became his Queen in everything but name. She encouraged him to visit his wife's bed because heirs were necessary and when Catherine became pregnant (she had 10 children with him), he resumed sharing his bed with only Diane. Everyone at court knew that Diane controlled the crown. Diane had an extreme intellect and a political astuteness to the point that the King trusted her to write many of his official letters and they even signed them jointly with the one name: HenriDiane., when Pope Paul III sent the new Queen Catherine the "Golden Rose," he was sure to send the King's mistress a pearl necklace as well.

Henry's monogram was a stylized 'H' and 'D'; governed his children, arranged the marriage between his son Francis and Mary Queen of Scots; and was entrusted with the Crown Jewels of France (oh dear, take the husband but at least leave poor Catherine the jewels!) He had the Chateau d'Anet built for her, and gave her the Chateau at Chenonceaux, much to the horror of Catherine who had desperately wanted it for herself. Naturally, this did not sit well with the real Queen, who really loved her husband, and the two women hated each other beyond belief!

Chenonceau ~ A view from Diane's gardens Photo via official Chenonceau site

In 1559, Henry was critically wounded in a jousting tournament and Catherine de Medici finally had a chance for her revenge. The king called out repeatedly for his love Diane and Catherine refused to allow her to see him. Upon his death, Diane was not allowed to the funeral. Immediately after, Catherine banished Diane from Chenonceaux to the Chateau Chaumont. She stayed there only a short time and lived out her remaining years in her chateau in Anet. She died on April 22, 1566 she was 67 years old. During the French Revolution, her tomb was opened and her remains thrown into a mass grave.

Photo from dianedepoitiers This is a great site written by one of her descendants. Here you can read her will and love letters

She had many residences this one in Cour de Rohn, located on the Rue de Jardinet, just off Boulevard St Germain-des-Pres. is still standing today.

Have a wonderful day My friends, until tomorrow!

Place Royale

Bonjour All!!! Thank you so much for your warm and generous holiday wishes! I hope everybody had a beautiful and delicious holiday! I did, I love spending time with my family, there really is nothing else like it! Well, I'm back from my mini vacation with the hubby & I have to say I feel like I was in a Chevy Chase movie for the last few days! It was a a terrible trip but I'm already laughing at all of our mishaps! Oh well, it is never bad to spend time with your loved one! It is true...there is no place like home (well, maybe Paris)!

I just love taking as stroll through the Place des Vosges! I really think it is just grand! It's one of my favorite haunts in Paris. Here's why...

The Place des Vosges is Paris' oldest square and it is breathtaking. Built from 1605 to 1612 by Henri IV. It was originally known as the Place Royale. A true square, it embodied the first European program of royal city planning. It was built on the site of the Hôtel des Tournelles and its gardens. At a tournament at the Tournelles, the royal residence, Henri II was wounded in a jousting tournament and died. Catherine de Medicis was devastated and had the Gothic pile demolished in her grief she then moved to the Louvre.

What was new about the Place Royale in 1612 was that the housefronts were all built to the same design of red brick with strips of stone quoins over vaulted arcades that stand on square pillars. Within a mere five-year period the king oversaw an unmatched building scheme for the ravaged medieval city: additions to the Louvre, the Pont Neuf, and the Hôpital Saint Louis as well as the two royal squares.

It was originally known as Place Royale. This changed after the French Revolution when the region of Vosges in the northeast of France on the border of Luxembourg and Germany was the first to pay taxes to the new French government. To honor them, the most beautiful square in Paris was named after this region.

A stroll through Le Marais without visiting Place des Vosges would be like going to the Champs Elysées without seeing the Arc de Triomphe! The Place des Vosges has two major houses. In the middle of the north side is the Queen Pavillon, dedicated to the former queen of France. On the south side is the King Pavillon, Le Pavillon du Roi. These houses are not open to visitors. You can, however, visit the home of Victor Hugo, the famous author of “Les Miserables.”

The home of Victor Hugo

On the southwest corner of the square, a secret door open only during the day, allows entry to the fantastic Hotel de Sully Gardens. A must if you are there. Cross through another passage and you’ll find a courtyard with enchanting statues representing the four seasons. If you keep heading south you’ll come to rue Saint Antoine, an extension of rue de Rivoli. Make a left and you’re on your way to Place de la Bastille. You may notice some white marks on the ground – these show where the infamous Bastille prison once stood. Remarkable!!!

Of course my favorite part about this famous square is of course, the history it encases within its' walls. The houses are incredible and the only thing more incredible than their beauty are the former residents that inhabited them!

No. 1bis ~Mme de Sevigné was born here

No. 6 ~Victor Hugo from 1832 - 1848, in what was then the Hôtel de Rohan-Guéménée, now a Ville de Paris-managed museum devoted to his memory (and it is free to go in)!

No. 7~ Sully, Henri IV's great minister

No. 8~ poet Théophile Gautier and writer Alphonse Daudet

No. 9 ~(Hôtel de Chaulnes) the Academy of Architecture

No. 11~ occupied from 1639-1648 by the famous courtesan Marion Delorme (what I wouldn't give to see her home in it's hayday!)

No. 14 ~(Hôtel de la Rivière). Its ceilings painted by Lebrun are reinstalled in the Musée Carnavalet

No. 17 ~former residence of Bossuet

No. 21~ Cardinal Richelieu from 1615 - 1627

Photos via Flickr

I say we all meet up here for an espresso and some girl talk! Could you think of a better place to meet!?!

Bisou Mon Amis!

Château des Dames

Chenonceau is known for it's stunning floral displays, this is one

Chenonceau is known as the Queens Castle and when visiting it you can see why. It was owned in 1513 by Katherine Briçonnet, then made even more attractive by Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Médicis, and saved from the French Revolution by Mrs Dupin.

The chateau is located in the Loire Valley near the small village of Chenonceaux and it was built on the river Cher, which lends itself to incredible views and breathtaking architecture. It has been written about as early as the 11th century but nobody is quite sure the exact time it was built.

The Green garden

The original manor was torched in the 1400's to punish owner Jean Marques. He rebuilt a castle on the site in the 1430's. After his death, his indebted heir Pierre Marques sold the castle to Thomas Bohier, Chamberlain for King Charles VIII in 1513. Bohier destroyed the castle and built an entirely new residence. The work was overseen by his wife Katherine Briçonnet, who delighted in hosting French nobility. Eventually, the château was seized by François I for unpaid debts to the Crown, and after François' death in 1547, Henry II offered the château as a gift to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers who became attached to the château. She had the arched bridge constructed, joining the château to the opposite bank. She then oversaw the planting of extensive gardens. Set along the banks of the river, but buttressed from flooding by stone terraces, the exquisite gardens were laid out.

Diane's Garden

Diane de Poitiers was the mistress of the castle, but ownership remained with the crown until 1555, when years of delicate legal maneuvers finally yielded possession to her. However, after King Henry II died in 1559, his widow Catherine de' Medici had Diane expelled. Because the estate no longer belonged to the crown, she could not seize it outright, but forced Diane to exchange it for the Château Chaumont. Queen Catherine then made Chenonceau her own favorite residence, adding a new series of gardens.

Louise of Lorraine's bedroom. Decorated to reflect the mourning of her husband.

When Catherine died in 1589 the château went to her daughter-in-law, Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont. It was here at Chenonceau that Louise was told of her husband's assassination and she fell into a state of depression, spending her days wandering aimlessly along the vast corridors dressed in all White mourning clothes (as was the etiquette of royal mourning, this is how she came to be known as the "White Queen") amidst black tapestries stitched with skulls. Her bedroom has been reconstructed around the original ceiling. It is decorated with mourning objects : silver tears, widows' cordons, crowns of thorns and the Greek letter - l - lambda, Louise's initial, intertwined with the H of Henri III

In 1720 Madame Louise Dupin acquired the castle and brought it back to life by entertaining the leaders of The Enlightenment: Voltaire, Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. She saved the château from destruction during the French Revolution, preserving it from being destroyed by the Revolutionary Guard because it was essential to travel and commerce, being the only bridge across the river for many miles. She is said to be the one who changed the spelling of the Château (from Chenonceaux to Chenonceau) to please the villagers. In 1864, Daniel Wilson, a Scotsman, bought the château for his daughter. She would spend a fortune on elaborate parties to such an extent that her finances were depleted and the château was seized and sold to José-Emilio Terry, a Cuban millionaire, in 1891.

A view of the Cher

During World War I the gallery was used as a hospital ward; during the Second War it was a means of escaping from the Nazi occupied zone on one side of the River Cher to the "free" Vichy zone on the opposite bank.

The maze

The chateau holds so much beauty and grandeur. It is almost too much to behold! The extensive collections held here are almost worth the visit alone. The collections include masterpieces from Le Primatice, Rubens, Le Tintoret, Rigaud, Nattier, Van Loo, just to name a few. Many of its' original pieces of furniture can be viewed in Versailles. It also contains Renaissance furniture and a vast ensemble of XVI and XVIIth tapestries.

A tour through the vast gardens is an absolute must and much time should be allotted for this purpose.

Diane's garden or, "Le Jardin de Diane", has the garden's original fountain.
On the commemorative bronze plate placed near the garden we can read the description of it by Jacques Androuet de Cerceau in his book "The Most Excellent Buildings of France" written between 1576-1579. The flower beds themselves are planted twice a year with 30,000 to 32,000 plants for each planting:

1. The spring plantings: yellow Viola pansies and blue, white roses depending on the decorative theme, daisies, pink or white bellis perennises and their bulbs ; daffodils and mysosotises.
2. The summer plantings: petunias, tobacco, lilliput dahlias, patiences, verveine, or more begonias.

Catherine's garden, which features splendid climber rose-trees and a majestic alley of 16 orange trees, you can see the Building of the Domes, which previously contained the Royal stables and the silk raising yard. You then enter the courtyard of the 16th century farm, and lastly the Flower Garden, where countless flowers for cutting are exclusively produced. These flowers are earmarked for the floral decoration of the Monument, the Building of the Domes, and the Orangerie.

The Gardeners house (how beautiful)

The maze is also a must see attraction but my favorite part of the visit...a fun ride down the Cher in a lovely Green little boat. Rowing along and feeling the history and splendor of this charming castle was riveting. You could just imagine all of the secret rendezvous and plots that were laid out here over the passage of time. Enchanting! I hope you get a chance to see this gem & I hope I get a chance to go back!

The Hall

Breathtaking!



Like a fairytale!

Bisou Mon Amis!

~Photos via Flickr & the Chateau Chenonceau site~