Featured property

The Old Walnut Mill  Delightful, spacious 2 bedroom  19th Century Loire Valley house for rent in the peaceful village of Barrou in the department of Indre et Loire,France. The village’s location halfway between the regional capitals of Tours and Poitiers makes it an ideal base to explore the Loire Valley and Vienne. 

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The town of Richelieu takes its name from its founder, Cardinal Richelieu the hugely egotistical character who in his time, after the king, (Louis XIII) was the most powerful person in France.

 The Cardinal decided his position demanded a great residence and in 1625 he commissioned the famous architect Jacques Lemercier to design his palace and then the town bearing his name.
 

You may be disappointed here though, for as much as the town is interesting from an architectural point of view, it was built (1631-1642) in an innovative grid style which many modern cities now follow, there is not a great deal to see or do. You have to be impressed by Lemercier's foresight but when you consider that the chateau at Chinon was plundered for its stone it might have been better to have left that intact.
Lemercier as architect to the king was responsible for the domed church (1635) at the Sorbonne College in Paris. One of his last commissions was the design of the Church of Saint-Roch, one of the largest in Paris, where the cornerstone was laid by Louis XIV in 1653.

The town was originally moated, but today most of this area alongside the moats is now used by the householders, as gardens.
The main church "Eglise Notre Dame" remains in much the same condition as when it was first built, and the timber framed market hall is still used for the weekly market.

The town's railway station is the centre of a preserved steam railway which only operates to Chinon during summer months but you can view some of the stock in the station area.

In an effort to expand its appeal to tourists the town also has a museum dedicated to cats (?) - but unless you are a cat fanatic you could give it a miss.

You can take a very pleasant walk through the grounds of Richelieu's former palace, it had been damaged and plundered during the French Revolution and was later demolished, but you really have to stretch your imagination to reinstate what must have been a very grand and opulent residence judging by the size of the land and the Cardinal's ego!

If you are the outdoor type a visit to the tourist board will get you plans/routes for 26 marked out hiking trails for the area from 6 to 22km long. You can also hire also hire bicycles locally to again take advantage of three planned routes or the kids can simply be let loose in the safety of the park.

The town also has an outdoor pool. (pacine)        

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