The Vicomte and Roquetaillade
The Vicomte in question is Sébastien de Baritault du Carpia, current custodian of the stunning Château de Roquetaillade which has been in his illustrious family for seven centuries. The Emperor Charlemagne constructed the first fortifications on this site on his way to conquer Spain in 777 – yes – and the romantic ruins of the old curtain wall go back more than thirteen hundred years. The existing castle was built in 1306, so quite recently in the scale of things, and the owner had to ask permission of the English King Edward the First, who was ruler of Aquitaine during the fourteenth century. The château is impressive, with its six solid towers and its central keep, and the pale stone of its ancient walls combined with the ravishing green of the surrounding parkland make it extremely easy on the eye.
Roquetaillade and Viollet le Duc
Where does Viollet le Duc fit in to all of this? He was France’s premier architect during the 19th century and you will see his fingerprints on several of her greatest buildings, as his speciality was restoring many of the national monuments which had been destroyed or damaged during the French Revolution to their former glory, including Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, Mont St Michel, and other dazzling examples.
He arrived at the Chateau de Roquetaillade in 1860 and remained for the next ten years. Le Duc disliked the classical architecture of the renaissance, preferring to re-create the gothic tradition so particular to France and what he left behind him at Roquetaillade is a positive orgy of medievalism. Think of the medieval castle of your wildest dreams – then double it. There are fairy-tale four-poster beds galore and the decoration of the interior, which Le Duc designed himself, is a riot of turquoise, amber, and gold. Our favourite was the chapel, which glows with the soft colours of the south – terracotta reds picked out with the blue of the sky. Rather than your usual clouds and cherubs, the famous ceiling has a striking geometric pattern redolent of the Moorish influence which was such a feature of the middle ages.
Viollet le Duc’s project is not yet complete, work still continues at Roquetaillade to restore and realise the great architect’s vision.
Hotel barges that cruise the Canal de Garonne and River Garonne waterways include
Saint Louis and Rosa
The visit was the high point of our vacation. If you are as lucky as we were, you might find that your guide turns out to be the Vicomte de Baritault himself. He speaks faultless English having been educated at Harrow, one of Britain’s most famous public schools, and is Viollet le Duc’s most fervent supporter. He described his beautiful home as “ . . . a demanding and fat hungry baby . . .” (we didn’t see it in quite that light) but waxed lyrical about his “subliminal castle” saying that “ . . . his enthusiasm during the visit is just a reflection of all of the things that the walls at Roquetaillade communicate to him . . .”
If you are enjoying the luxury of a barge cruise on the Canal de Garonne in southwest France, the Chateau de Roquetaillade can be found ten kilometers south of Langon** on the River Garonne, which shadows the route of the canal. Roquetaillade is a winery within the famed Graves wine appellation (from where the Claret name originated) and has many prestigious awards. The Chateau de Roquetaillade is also only 34 miles from Bordeaux – a wonderful city and a sophisticated shopping heaven.
** A fun fact about Langon: it is where the huge parts needed for the construction of the Airbus 380, which are made in Hamburg and St Nazaire, arrive on a barge and are then transported to the factory in Toulouse.
Aquitaine ~ Bordeaux
Aquitaine (once part of England) is an ancient wine-growing region, famed for its St Emilion label amongst others. The Gironde estuary, with its tributaries the rivers Dordogne and Garonne, and the Canal de Garonne, offer cruising for self-drive, hotel barge and riverboat cruising. See the beautiful city of Bordeaux at its best from the waterways.
