A Run Out

We are in the middle of a spell of entertaining which is very nice but rather exhausting. So yesterday we decided to have a break and have a "run out". He therefore donned his cap and I put on my chiffon scarf and we set off with our picnic.

Initially we were stunned to see just five miles away, vast swathes of hillsides covered in trees which had succumbed to the heatwave. We are used in August to seeing the odd tree with brown leaves but this was far worse than normal. We were driving through the Causse National Park which has exceptionally poor stoney soil with virtually no depth (worse than ours) but it was still a surprise. 

 We found a lovely shadey spot in a walnut orchard to have our picnic before driving to the nearby Castelnau-Bretenoux chateau which was our destination.

The chateau was built in the 13th century by the local barons. It was added to and embellished by subsequent generations but eventually abandoned in the 18th century. Some of the living areas were destroyed by fire in 1851 and it was again neglected until 1896 when it was bought by Jean Mouliérat. He was a tenor in the Paris Comic Opera and we assume he must have been the Pavaroti of his day as he obviously had very deep pockets.

We were fascinated to see that Jean was born in Vers opposite La Truite Dorée, a well known local restaurant. He seemed to want to live the life of "Lord of the Manor" but at the same time turned his every day life into a piece of theatre. Most French chateaux were ravaged during the revolution and are therefore not furnished. However, as Jean didn't start his renovation until the end of the 19th century his large collection of furniture and objet d'art remains to create his living stage set.

 He was obviously one of those eccentric, larger than life characters whom I thought only existed in Britain. He donated the chateau to the State two days before his death in 1932.

We had intended the "run out" to encompass two other places of interest but we were too shattered after our visit to the castle. They will be there when the "ol' folk" fancy another excursion!!