The church's main door - about 1637

***

Mayor Novelli seeks to lead his troops to the election!

The current mayor of Richelieu encourages his party faithful 

in the Auditoire of the 

cardinal duc's

cité idéale.

p.s. nice box balls, Milady P!

***

Pasta problems......

or

....that is the question.

France decides....

***

Some 'jetons' from the 1640s - showing the cardinal duc

These coins from the 17th century, minted during the life of the cardinal duc, are called 'jetons';

a word that means a non-monetary token, such as one might use in a shopping cart today

They have marine scenes on the reverse face celebrating the 'great helmsman' Richelieu, 

who was in any event Head of the royal navy of his day.

They incorporate the coat of arms of the dukes of Richelieu, and the symbol of the Sainte Ésprit, a chivalric order of the ancient régime.

The last jeton (of 1974!) celebrates the foundation in 1640 of 

the Royal Printing Works 

by the cardinal duc and Louis XIII.

Thanks to Wolfgang Roth 
of the ideal city's twin town Schaafheim
in Germany

***

Wine festival in Richelieu

A short movie of the recent 2017 wine festival held on
23 April 2017
(St.George's Day: Shakespeare's birthday in 1564)
under the roof of the market hall.



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The Dome by night in the parc

Thanks Gala!

***

A new wine bar for Pascale and François Plouzeau

14 place du Marché - Cave à vins Plouzeau

 The local wine growers,Pascale and  François Plouzeau have opened a shop in the place du Marché to offer their bio-dynamic wines. The boutique replaces the former estate agent Archard in a rather pretty shop adjacent to the tourist office.

the facade to the square

try a wine here at the zinc bar!

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Brasserie 'Le Richelieu' and the PMU

across the square

This brasserie is at present the main bar and café that looks onto the Market Square. It occupies one of the four nineteenth century pavilions that form the corners of the earlier 17th century market hall. Such pavilions were part of the original design but they were replaced and enlarged in the first decades of the 1800s. The bar  looks to the west and so gets the afternoon sun and attracts a lounging clientele on its external tables.  Inside the bar has a terminal of the PMU betting system and is (I think?) the only bookie in the town intra-muros.

The new proprietors, who took charge quite recently, have referbished the interior and are putting a bit of beef into getting the establishment established, while other immediately local commercial competition such as it is seems to be in a low state.

A facebok page tells of the events organised here, which include bar-room karaoke every so often.

the refurbished interior

the new chairs

The PMU betting system.

Facebook page of PMU LeRichelieu

lighting and decor

front to the square on a sunny afternoon

***

Clearing the carp pond

The parc of the cardinal duc de Richelieu was reborn in the nineteenth century when the Heine family reassembled the by-then fragmented post-revolutionary portions of the ancient parc 'probably' to the designs of the well-known Parisian landscape architects, the Buhler Brothers. This firm had assumed a role of national importance as, with the invention of the railway system, they could now ply their aristocratic trade over the whole of geographic France. The parc and estate were reconstituted as part of the dowry gift to the then duke of Richelieu, who had taken the hand of the beautiful and rich banker's daughter, Alice Heine.

(Another landed estate re-designed by the Buhlers is located at Azay le Ferron, not too far away from Richelieu.) 

In the location of the historic castle's basse cour and avant cour - the outer and inner arrival courtyards - they built a large but shallow carp pond to act as a reflecting pool on the layout's main axis.

It is surrounded by the large allées of plane trees, now grown to full height.  These huge trees dump their autumn leaves into the pond each year, and every decade or so the parc's stewards have to clear all the rotting sludge out. Quite a task! The pond is finally restocked with fish.

Below a few pictures of the task half completed, with pressure hoses cleaning up the central fountain.

Where can we find authenication of the designers of the Parc de Richelieu?

SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!

Wikipedia on the Freres Buhler

"Eugène (1822-1907) and Denis Bühler (1811-1890), were born in Clamart into a Protestant family. At their father’s death, Denis was obliged to take over the family business and became a nursery gardener. Eugène studies garden landscapes at the Versailles horticultural school until they both settle in Paris in order to design parks and gardens.

1842 Their first project at Kernevez in Britany, was followed by many others in the area such as the parks of the châteaux of Combourg, Bonnefontaine, Briantais, then Oberthür, Bois-Cornillé… They restructure the Gardens of la Tête d’Or in Lyon in 1857, of the Domaine de la Grenade à Saint Selve in 1859, of the Château of Courson, Essonne in1860, of Thabor in Rennes in 1868 and the gardens of Prébendes d’Oé in Tours in 1872, followed by the college St François de Sales in Evreux in 1883. 

During the end of the XIXth century, the Bühlers start their projects in the south of France and specifically in the Hérault region in Languedoc.

They design the parks of : the du Domaine of Verchant, the Château of Raissac, Libouriac and the ''Plateau des Poètes'' in Béziers around 1880. The gardens of the Château de Brochon, Côte d’Or, in 1885, is followed by la Sallière in 1886 and the ''Parc Bordelais'' in Bordeaux… The Bühler brothers make a particular statement by planting rare and exotic species in their landscaped gardens. 

Their conception of a garden:

The alleys or paths of their gardens were designed in harmonious curves and lines, essential to its general beauty. They studied the natural irregularities of the ground which remained the frame of their garden landscape. Trees, flowers, bushes then become the important elements of their style. Rare species are planted on the lawns to be seen by all. Trees are planted according to their shapes and colours to maximise perspectives. Bushes and beds of flowers, well chosen and local to the area, are planted near the house. The garden seems natural, but the influence of designers is visible. Shrubs are designed in elliptic shapes. Water is an essential element of the garden’s harmonious design with waterfalls, ponds, rivers and fountains… all appearing in their most natural way."

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!!!! TODAY ONLY !!!!

it's the Duke of Burgundy wot dunnit, honest!!

Not les poor Rosbifs....

Playing with Prisma

These versions of the photo below were made using the free 'app' called Prisma.

The porte de chinon at the northern end of the town looking south from the new roundabout.

the original snap

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The Office of Tourism

Sunlight is falling on the façade of the restored Tourist Office, adding a nice shadow to the elevated lettering on the front wall. We wait hoping that the other half of this hôtel particulier - mansion - will shortly be restored to match, now that it has been acquired by the Townhall, together with the adjacent shop. All the Place du Marché's corner pavilions are very conspicuous in the urban vista.