Our Blog - Château of Bussy-Rabutin, France

The château of Bussy-Rabutin was originally built in the 12th century as a stronghold. It was rebuilt in the 14th century as a residential castle and redesigned under the kings Henry II and Louis XIII. The most famous owner was the Comte de Bussy Roger de Bussy-Rabutin (1618 - 1693), who was a general of the royal armies of King Louis XIV, as well as a philosopher and writer. This guy seemed to be quite interesting. In 1649, he took part in an orgy, which upset the young king Louis XIV, who exiled him from the French Court to this family castle. He wrote a quite scandalous pamphlet in 1660 that chronicled some of the more "colorful" escapades within the French Court. This also didn't go over well with the King, who in 1666 dismissed him from all of his positions in the French Court, locked him up for 13 months in the Bastille, and then exiled him for the rest of his life here.

This trip was our first try with a forward-facing backpack dog carrier. It is not a K9 sport sac, which seems to be the best one on the market, but we decided to try a slightly cheaper model that we could get quickly from Amazon France to try it out. If Lucy seems to do well in it, then perhaps we will spring for the K9 sport sac later. She did okay, although I'm not quite sure she likes it .... she likes getting treats from me while she is riding along! You'll see Lucy sprinkled through the pictures ... this was my first time with her in the backpack and I seemed to be leaning forward all of the time. I have to work on this a bit!

The courtyard is laid out in a U-shape with 4 round towers, surrounded by a moat.

Bussy Apartment

The Hall of Mottos on the ground floor features a portrait of Roger de Rabutin over the fireplace. You can also see the red "tomato" tiles and the coffered ceilings. This is basically the first room you enter, and you are initially struck by how the walls are totally covered by paintings. Then as you go through the other rooms in the Bussy apartment, you see that this is how pretty much all of the rooms are decorated.

The Hall of the Great Warriors features 65 portraits of military figures (both French and foreign), specifically chosen by Bussy. The dark color of the paintings contrasts the light paneling, with monograms of the count (the 2 B's front-to-back) and his mistress, the marquise de Montglas (the 2 M's with one upside down).

The bedroom was originally 3 rooms but was reorganized and redecorated by the Count of Sarcus in 1835. You can see the fabric wallpaper, which contrasts to the painted wood in the rooms that were decorated by Bussy. Portraits of mistresses of French kings and ladies of the court can be found here. The 3 together in the last picture I *think* are Louse de Rouville (the 2nd wife of Bussy), Madame de Sévigné, (his cousin), and her daughter Madame de Grignan.

The kings' gallery displays the Rabutin family on one side and the kings of France on the other, from Hugh Capet to Charles X. In the 19th century, the Count of Sarcus added a series of portraits of statesmen, including Benjamin Franklin.

In one of the round towers is the Golden Tower Lounge, which is decorated by portraits mainly of "beautiful ladies of the court".

The chapel is in one of the round towers. It has fine ribs that support the ceiling, with flamboyant Gothic lines. The altar piece from the 16th century shows the resurrection of Lazarus.

The former kitchen and fruit cellar date from the Renaissance period.

The apartment of the Count of Sarcus is in the the other side of the grand staircase from the Bussy apartment. The Count did quite a bit of restoration work in the 19th century and was the one who got the château listed as a historic monument. The only room open in this apartment was the antechamber. it is covered by a French-style ceiling and decorated with a rich damask wallpaper with red and gold strips. Most of the furnishings date from the Régence period (1715 and 1723) and the cabinets that look like ebony are, in fact, wood from a pear tree that has been stained black.

The French Garden was laid out by the famous landscaper, André Le Nôtre.

Lucy checking out the gardens ... she actually decided to take a little drink of the water flowing out of the fountain.