Grand France River Cruise – Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Chateau Cormatin

Very few castles retain their original period throughout their lives. Most of the time, they evolve throughout the centuries as owners and tastes change. So a mostly intact 17^th century chateau was something to look forward to seeing.

Chateau Cormatin had originally been built as a fortress in 1280. In 1606 a chateau was built on the original foundations, retaining the moat and the drawbridge.

By the time of the French Revolution, the Marquise was widowed, so she turned the Marquis’ Antechamber into a kitchen for her and her six children. Our local guide said that she was trying to show that she could be practical and frugal. Fortunately for her, she was also well loved by the people in the area. So she kept her head and her chateau.

The present day owners had been very fortunate to find that many of the rooms simply needed to be cleaned or to have some later paneling or dropped ceiling removed in order to reveal the original decoration.

So much of the time, over the centuries, a chateau has been redecorated so many times that someone trying to restore the place has quite a challenge regarding what was there originally and whether or not they want to ruin what was done later to try to go back to the original.

I had seen some partial 17^th century decoration in castles and homes in Scotland before, but not too many other places. I was very excited to have the opportunity to see Chateau Cormatin.

Our choices for that morning included an excursion to a Chardonnay wine cellar or an excursion to Chateau Cormatin. I didn’t even need to think about it. I was going to Cormatin.

Bumping along on a winding road out in the countryside of Burgundy (Bourgogne) I was keeping my eyes moving as this was another area where I have some ancestors – roughly 33 Burgundians ranging from around 605 to 1306.

There were some ruins of a castle up on a hill coming into view when our local guide said that they were the remains of an early castle that had belonged to the Dukes of Burgundy in roughly the 11^th to 13^th centuries before their capitol was moved to Dijon. This was another “shoot quick or miss it” situation with my phone. My phone met the challenge. Good thing because I have not been able to find out anything more about that particular castle.

The next village was called Ozenay according to my phone, which sometimes shows the location of where I am taking a photo and sometimes doesn’t. The only info I could find on it was that it was in Burgundy. It was quaint and of the correct age for the time when my ancestors would have been in that area, so I have a photo included here. There was a 12^th century castle in that village which is now used as a Bed & Breakfast.

Le Chapelle-sous-Brancion was another village with a castle. This one was the privately owned Chateau of the Nobles and dated to 1370 (after my people had left the area). I managed to get a good photo on the fly of it too.

We made a stop at the village of Chapaize to visit its church. This was an 11^th century Romanesque church. Several of the houses in the village were stone with covered galleries. This was typical to the area and reminded me somewhat of the houses in Charleston, South Carolina with their galleries.

The church featured some steps on the outside leading up to the bell tower. I don’t recall ever seeing that before. I also felt that I wouldn’t want to be the one climbing those steps in the rain, snow, or cold.

Finally we arrived at Chateau Cormatin, which we entered through the main entrance in the center of the North Façade. We climbed the Grand Staircase to the Library which was one of a couple of 19^th century rooms on that level of the north wing.

The Grand Staircase was the largest surviving example of a square staircase built around a central well. It had been built in 1623.

I shot a photo of the garden out of the window of one of the 19^th century rooms before we headed back downstairs to see the magnificent 17^th century rooms. The apartment of the Marquise was first. This consisted of an Antechamber, the formal Bedchamber, a Cabinet, a dressing/bathing room, and a small, private Chapel.

In her bedchamber were some candelabras that looked like arms coming out of the wall to hold a candle. I definitely got a kick out of those.

There were two rooms connecting the Marquise’s rooms to that of her husband. The first was a Hall of Mirrors, which was really a ‘room of marvels’ or a ‘cabinet of curiosities’. These kinds of rooms were very common in Europe in the early 17^th century. They were designed to stimulate symbolic reflection using strange and exotic objects, stuffed animals, minerals, shells, bronzes, and anything else that would essentially show off the wealth and intellect of the owners.

Considered to be the most luxurious and best preserved early 17^th century room in France, the Cabinet of the Marquis (also called the ‘Cabinet of Saint Cecilia’) was breathtaking. The only people who would see these rooms were the owners and their family and any very close friends or associates.

There were a few more rooms on the ground floor that were in varying stages of being restored. We had free time to explore and photograph these rooms and go out and explore the gardens before we needed to head back to the tour coach to rejoin the ship in its new location.

On my way up the drive to the gates, I met the owner riding down the drive on his bicycle. We greeted each other, and then I gestured towards the chateau and said, “Absolument magnifique.” He smiled with pleasure and thanked me. That really pleased me to have been able to tell him what I thought with what little command of French I still have. He spent a lot of time and money on making that place so amazing. It had become one of my favorites of any castle I have ever seen anywhere.

We had a free afternoon on the ship as we immediately set sail for St Jean de Losne once everyone was back on board. After lunch, I finished up with my packing as we would be disembarking the following morning. We also had a tasting of regional cheeses, breads, and mustards, along with wines of course.

Next time – Beaune and its medieval hospital for the poor (as well as some amazing chocolate)

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