Today’s book is Chateaux de la Loire, by Maurice Jardot. Small paperback published 1961 by Panoramas, Paris. In French, with English translation by Arnold Rosin.
This attractive little vintage book consists of a brief historical essay and comments, with color photographs by Pierre Jahan of the castles of the Loire Valley: Chateaudun, Loches, Amboise, Blois, Chambord, Meillant, Chaumont-sur-Loire, Chenonceaux, Villandry, Langeais, Usse, Azay-le-Rideau, Chinon, Coudray-Montpensier, and Valencay; the cover shows Chateau du Moulin a Lassay.
From page XV:
One is hardly aware today how much the monuments of the Loire Valley contribute to the charm and poetry of the countryside, but it is certain that the pleasant climate, the beautiful landscape, the subtle atmosphere would not be so highly praised were it not for the fascinating buildings rising from this soil, enriching a hospitable nature with the radiance which always attaches to exceptional people and the things they have created. Nature here owes much to man.
And from page XIX:
The extravagant cavalcade of the French Court unrolls endlessly from chateau to chateau, resting nowhere, while kings and servants, cavaliers, poets, ribalds and almoners, royal mistresses and dauphins, jostle one another…. A century in continual movement, never fixed or sure, yet which worked and built these marvels by which we now know them, leaving to the land its new face.
Also currently in stock at BrainiacBooks.com:
On Foot in Paris: Alpina Guide Books Series
Bretagne: II — Finistere (La France Illustree)
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Tags: architecture, castle, chateau, chateaux, estate, feudal, fortress, France, French, guidebook, history, Loire, mansion, retro, travel, vintage
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