BLANDY LES TOURS CASTLE

One Saturday we drove south of Paris to visit a chateau that was supposed to have terrific gardens, something like an eastern version of Versailles, but everything was closed as they were redoing the gardens for Christmas and would not be open until after we had returned to Bordeaux. We drove on a little further south. We have heard that Napoleon planted trees along the paths that his soldiers would march so that they could march in the shade. We don't know the validity of this, but there are certainly a lot of roads as this one with rows of trees obviously planted for some purpose.

We soon discovered a wonderful rebuilt fortress at Blandy les Tours. It was so cool to get to explore all throughout the castle. Even though it was not actually the original, it has been rebuilt to be exactly as the original would have been and certainly gave us the feeling of being back in time. It is our understanding that the rebuilding operation was headed by an LDS man.This is what we found on the Internet describing this castle:

The first baronial residence was built in the thirteenth century, in the form of a simple manor with an irregular surrounding wall. Later that century, considerable fortification work was done, particularly the three towers which were added to the fortified entrance tower. A large residential building was built inside these fortifications. The fourteenth century saw considerable development of the château defences, with a moat and a new tower entrance boasting a spiked drawbridge. In the second half of this century Blandy became the model for fortified castles. The keep, 39 metres high, defended by two drawbridges, was built. The keep was altered by the addition of new towers and curtain walls. Between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, the fortress gradually lost its military purpose and became a residential castle. With the original stronghold of Aurélien, companion of Clovis [Arnold's 49th grandfather], the castle of Blandy les Tours was rebuilt in sixteenth century by François II of Orleans which made a residence of pleasure of it. More domestic buildings were built. In the early eighteenth century, Maréchal Villars, the owner of Vaux-le-Vicomte, bought the lands and fortress of Blandy, which was pulled down and turned into a farm. Little by little, the fortress disappeared.

Bought by the town council in 1883, the ruins of the fortress were classified as a historic monument the following year.From 1970 onwards, volunteer associations began work on restoring the château. In 1992, the Seine et Marne general council bought the fortress and undertook a vast restoration operation. A complete programme of works has enabled this superb fortress to be resuscitated and become one of the leading tourist attractions in the department.

We took a lot of pictures. Here are a few of the better ones.

OUTSIDE SHOTS

Sort of a mote.

INNER COURTYARD

EXPLORING INSIDE

TOP OF THE WALL

STAIRS TO THE TOP OF THE WALL

VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE WALL

OUTSIDE OF THE CASTLE

MILL WHEEL

ACROSS THE STREET

EVERY GOOD CASTLE HAS TO HAVE A CASTLE CAT! AND CASTLE KIDS!

When we finished our tour, we went through the gift shop where the clerk noticed our missionary badges. She asked us about them and then said, "Oh, I thought Mormons all had beards!" JoAnn said she was working on it but hadn't quite gotten it yet. We had a nice laugh and hopefully she will have a little more understanding of Mormons after our visit.