The proposed 'green route' between Chinon and Richelieu

Chinon castle across the Vienne river

The existing but derelict railway line that connects the cité ideale of Richelieu and the historic Plantagenet fortress town of Chinon - home castle of Henry II and Richard Coeur-de-Lion, both kings of England - will soon be converted to a 'green route' for cyclists and pedestrians.  It runs along the picturesque valley of the river Veude and later upstream, the little river Mable.

Voie verte Richelieu-Chinon : c'est parti !
Voie verte Richelieu-Chinon : c'est parti !
Posted by Office de Tourisme du Pays de Richelieu on Saturday, 16 January 2016

Above a link to a video taken by drones that show the path of the new connection.

CLICK HERE
for a direct connection

within the fortress of Chinon

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The cartouche by Tassin on a 28" square wall panel

While the Abbé Henri-Armand Proust lies in winter cold in the cemetery outside the walls of the cité idéale, he seems nonetheless to be keeping abreast with the latest in information technology and home decor.

He scanned his new copy of the Tassin plan of the town (engraved in 1630) in high definition (1200 pixels/inch) and used Photoshop to clean up around the cartouche. The original cartouche graphic itself is only about two inches square.  

Then he made a dense jpg file.  He then sent this off to a company who can print digital files onto canvas and mount the result on timber stretchers. They did a grand job!

Here below the rather elegant results.

Do any of his parishoners want a similar panel for themselves? -  the Abbé can easily order more - maybe in support of the Fonds de Dotation and the imminent restoration of the so-called Tour Sainte Anne….

mail the Abbé

the canvas wall panel

Other posts on M Tassin and his engravings

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The old works, place Louis XIII - 3 - January 2016

This project has now been almost completed on the exterior and now makes an enormous change to the feel of the place Louis XIII, originally the cattle market of the town, located behind the market hall, La Halle.

The square itself has been recently re-landscaped - all pleached lime trees and box hedges - with a refurbished fountain in the centre.

The four flanking ranges of elevations to the square are being steadily smartened up and restored, so this individual project makes an enormous difference. Unusually Bâtiments de France have permitted the restoration of a 19th century building - some sort of engineering works - admitting the 'rich palimsest' approach to the architectural history of the little town.

Someone* should now take on the restoration of the masonry of the neighbouring 'fausse porte' that acts as a scruffy interlude between to two recently restored buildings. The good Abbé understands that formerly the town's dog pound was located behind the locked central doors. Today there is a boxy sub-station hidden there behind. 

It would be nice to allow curious visitors to go through to the banks of the Mable Canal, but statutory infrastructure is notoriously hard to get moved.

the new windows installed

a general view of the project

adjacent to the mannerist 1632 fausse porte

* the Fonds de Dotation perhaps

fit-out approaches...
looking to the canal of the Mable behind

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The 'tobacco barn (?)' rebuild - 3 - January 2016

Someone said that the new building replaces a former burnt-out timber tobacco barn that stood on the site. So, for once, Bâtiments de France has accepted a post-17th-century non-masonry replacement, although I understand that the new owner was obliged to keep the same geometric form as the old utility building. Timber tobacco barn translates to a 21st century 'green structure', unique within the walls.
We hope the river Mable doesn't overflow its banks too soon, as in 2014.

The project advances. Click HERE for other posts of the works to this site.

looking north-east up the rue des Gaultiers

street façade

interior framework - softwood and plywood panels  and oak free structure

looking across the road from inside - a display of the new ochre colours

a junction of materials

the cheminée of the former neighbour to the North

A 'baroque' cartouche by the engraver Tassin - 1630

Look at another rather similar graphic; this time a putto above the church door

Two nice prints by Tassin - 1632

The good Abbé HP, a bit short of Xmas presents for 2015, bought the second print from e-bay this morning at a 10% discount (for £54!).  Should he clinch the duchy map as well? Will his stipend stretch that far, or should he keep what little money he still has for the charity box, as Vincent de Paul recommends?

These two engravings were made while the new town was actually being constructed and Maestro Tassin clearly hadn't yet been to the new Richelieu - ville idéale -  when the image was made. Inter alia, the town plan shows the du Plessis clan's château that pre-dated the duc's castle and town.

A map of the newly created 'Duchy' of Richelieu of 1629

'Duke of Richelieu' was a title in the French nobility. It was created on 26 November 1629 for Armand Jean Cardinal du Plessis, (Cardinal Richelieu) who, as a celibate clergyman, had no issue to pass it down to. The title instead passed to his great-nephew, Armand Jean de Vignerot, the 2nd duke, grandson of his elder sister Françoise (1577–1615), who had married René de Vignerot, Seigneur de Pontcourlay († 1625).

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Publication: Les Plans et Profils de toutes les principals villes et lieux considerable de France. Ensemble les cartes generals de chacune province & les particulieres de chaque government d’icelles. Par le Sieur Tassin Geographe ordinaire de la Majesté. A Paris, chez Martin Gobert, au Palais, en la Galerie des Prisonniers. M. DC. XXXIV. Avec privilege du Roy.

This engraving is from an atlas showing a total of 410 maps, bird’s eye views and panoramas of provinces and towns in early 17th century France, during the reign of Louis XIII, the Just. Tassin divided the atlas in to 17 sections, namely Picardie, Champagne, Lorraine, Bretaigne, Normandie, Isle de France, Brie, Bourgogne, Dauphine, Oranges, Provence Languedoc, Foix & Bearn, Guyenne, Poictou, Loire and Beauce, fifteen of which are Provinces, one a Principality and one a region along the river Loire.

Christopher Nicolas Tassin was active from 1633 to 1635, initially in Dijon and subsequently in Paris. He became ‘ingenieur et geographe du roi’, under the patronage of Cardinal Richelieu, Louis XIII's first minister, having previously worked as a military engineer. Many of his fortification plans are ‘firsts’ which were subsequently copied/issued by Nicolas Berey and Antoine de Fer.

The sheets measure approximately 15.0 x 19.2 cm, and the actually engravings measure approx. 10.5 x 15.1 cm. The pages are single sided.

Engraver: Tassin, Christopher Nicolas,

Date: 1634

Technique: Copper plate

Uncoloured

A rare antique plan/bird's-eye view of Richelieu (Fr.).

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Merry Christmas everyone!

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Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year 2016

Bonnes fêtes 2015 - le Fonds de Dotation - The Endowment Fund

in 2016

We hope to see some renovation action in the

Tour Sainte Anne

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- Restoration after 375 years -

'Before 1...'

'Before 2...'

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join the restoration team

'Before 3...'

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French héros and héroines

N  by Antonio Canova

We remember the héroes and héroines of France during this shocking week-end in Paris.

More about Antonio Canova's work

… The chesnut trees in that country all are withered
And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven;
The pale faced moon looks bloody on the earth
And lean looked prophets whisper fearful change;
Peaceful men look sad and ruffians dance and leap,
The one in fear to lose what they enjoy,
The other to enjoy by rage and war…

- William Shakespeare -
Richard II Act 2 Scene 4 - The Welsh Capitan
1564 - 1616

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Three pictures of Villandry gardens from above

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Two phoenix-es (phoeni…phoenae?) arise

On rue des Gaultiers, on the western edge of the ville idéale, up against the little river Mable where it forms at the eastern part of the moat, two almost new houses are being re-built.

The first replaces old utility buildings that have collapsed, but interestingly, Bâtiments de France have permitted timber-frame structures to replace the original ones constructed of tuffeau rubble masonry.  They have insisted, we understand, that the form of the prior buildings be replicated and that a still standing party wall be re-assimilated into the structure.

The ground slab and the softwood timber wall frames have been built so far, but the project includes a few internal oak structural members that will no doubt still be visible in the interior when all the surfaces are completed.

The house has an attractive back garden overlooking the Moat/Mable river. Hopefully the little river will not overflow its banks, as happened in 2013 (and 1956) and flood the new house.

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Progress on the reconstruction of the old industrial works at the western foot of place Louis XIII (formerly the veal and stock market-place), continues apace.  The frontal wall and roof has been restored and re-windowed, while the rear elevation to the moat/Mable has been reconstructed.  The old iron and steel structures within are now rationalised to suit the new 'adaptive re-use', retaining some of the 19th century 'industrial archaeology'.  

It will be quite spectacular and will really lift the perception of the square, replacing the former gloomy dereliction.  Apparently the ground floor hall will be used as a gallery for art projects.

The small remnant of the 17th century that flanks the fausse porte to the immediate south, has been correctly restored to its original state; even the rendering has been hand done, in contrast the the mechanical finish on the adjacent re-born 19th century structure.

Hard to see, but the back garden is being fully restored - more Venice than Richelieu.  Perhaps a gondola…?

19th century reborn

17th century restoration 

place Louis XIII

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Autumn in the parc de Richelieu, October 2015 - green goes russet!

The orangery surmounted with the green god Vertumnus

the duc's cellars surmounted with Bacchus

leafless

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