Le Chateau de Montvason

09/04/2023

The Spring Season has well and truly started here , with our first guests and a wonderful weekend of community workshops, facilitated by Dominique, organiser of the local ‘Reveiller les Chouettes’ concert, who has been putting together a project that recounts the history and memories of the residents of our local village.

Followed swiftly by our first guided tours, by Pays d’Art et Histoire - which drew quite a crowd, much to our equal delight and trepidation 😀.

We started the ‘L’Association du Château de Montvason’, a few years ago and the ethos of the association is to open up the chateau to the community, for events, workshops, school projects etc… We feel it would be such a waste not to share this incredible space. We were rewarded with a surprise visit from a lady who used to work here in the 70s and was so delighted to revisit the chateau and felt that we had restored its soul.

A lot of visitors were also very moved by the Red Cross bedroom - our living museum and what we like to call the WW2 reflection room. It’s so heart-warming to have such lovely feedback and it’s moments like this, that makes it all seem worthwhile.

Having arrived at Montvason only a week ago, to be greeted by significant storm damage, (see imminent story on ) we weren’t sure we would be able to pull everything together in time - but with sleeves rolled up and some very long days, (thank you ) we managed to pull it off and so there were a lot of happy people - ourselves included ! 😍

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09/04/2023

The Easter Egg hunt resembled the hunger games, with the addition of very enthusiastic adults ! 😂🤦🏽‍♀️

Cries of foul play as Paul runs for the ladder to get the bunny that Jude had strategically placed, high up in the white magnolia tree.

But with all areas of the forest, maze and Chateau grounds explored, we sat down to share our finds beneath the trees à la teddy bears picnic style.

Happy Easter Everyone 😍

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26/02/2023

Plans are afoot for our next Jazz event at Monty on the weekend of 8/9 July 🎵🎶 . . . stay tuned for more details coming up . . . ♥️🖤🤍

29/09/2022

Final in my series of photos for the Red Cross room, before we move onto our latest projects (about to hit your screens in a few hours time): Dressing the vintage cast iron beds. The piece de resistance, (if you pardon the pun, given my families history), were the two Red Cross pillows that added the perfect finishing touch to the beds, which had ticking style linen and original military blankets with a little ping of red in the stitching detail. My lovely mum crocheted the red crosses for me, in true vintage detail, so that we could pull the whole theme of the room together. Thank goodness for my mum as I can’t sew for toffee! Thanks mum ❤️. I added some additional photos of Red Cross hospitals that I’d used as inspiration for the room.

29/09/2022

‘Chiner’ in french means to search for rare or old objects - love the word and it’s something which we .montvason and both love to do. Living in France we are so spoilt with the selection and quality of beautiful objects at incredible prices, without which we could never have afforded to furnish and adorn the Château. It’s always been incredibly important to both of us to preserve as much history as we can and as well as trying to stay faithful to traditional methods during renovations, we also try as much as we can, to buy pieces that are in keeping with the chateau and its period. So seeking out original wartime artefacts for the Red Cross room was challenging, but absolutely thrilling. On this Art Deco dressing table, that was sat in a corner of our buanderie for 2 years, are a WW2 medical kit filled with bandages, dressings and various medical bottles, one item that particularly stands out is a small amber glass bottle marked ‘live skin’ 😮. A vintage wash jug and bowl filled with lavender from the garden, some handwritten medical notes written in fountain pen from an American Red Cross medical book and a blue nurses beret with badges - who can have imagined buying this beautiful home, that it would take me on so many different adventures and journeys through history . . . ❤️

28/09/2022

It’s not always plain-sailing this renovation malarkey. Two days before filming, the extremely heavy Art Deco fireplace that we had bought at a brocante was delivered and unfortunately a big pothole on the chateau driveway, sent it crashing onto the van floor and we opened the van door to discover it in pieces. Its always gutting when a period piece breaks, but worse still when it’s just 2 days before filming and it’s one of the finishing pieces of the room. We all stared at the fireplace which was beyond repair, as if perhaps we could magically put it back together with just mind power! 🤦🏽‍♀️For once I was speechless, as I thought ‘how on earth are we going to finish the room without a fireplace and where could we possibly get one of that style and from that period in less than 24 hrs!?’ Well nothing ventured . . . a cliché perhaps, but one that we probably live by, by now. No sooner had it smashed, than I was on my phone searching on the trusted le Bon coin and joy of joys - the exact same style fireplace and period but with flecks of black and red, (which went rather well with the theme) - literally 20 minutes drive from the chateau. We picked it up the same day and it was game back on ! 😍

28/09/2022

A collection of the Red Cross posters that I researched for the walls of the room. During my time as a TV producer, making documentaries for the BBC, I had privelege of working on the Red Cross 125 Anniversary programme. It was an incredible project, where I had the honour of interviewing a Belsen Red Cross nurse Survivors, Gulf War hostages and returning a WW2 displaced camp survivor to be reunited with her family in Belarus, who had been traced by the Red Cross. So I have always held a very high regard and respect for the essential work the do and how important their neutrality was in saving countless lives during wartime. Hence why it was a natural choice to create a Red Cross form to find a way to offer a safe and neutral space of reflection and remembrance of countless lives lost, but also countless lives also saved.

07/09/2022

The second floor of the Château had remained untouched since the Americans left in 1946 and one of the few remnant’s left behind from the war was the Canadian Red Cross box. It is what initially gave me the idea of using the Red Cross as a theme for the decoration.

I had been struggling with how to find a way to offer a neutral space for reflection and remembrance and where the pains of war can be considered. I didn’t want it to be American or German, so having found a photograph of German and American Red Cross workers in the field of war, working alongside each other to save lives, it literally ticked all the boxes.

07/09/2022

We are so touched and overwhelmed by the wonderful messages we have been receiving following the screening of our World War 2, Red Cross themed, room renovation on the 2nd floor. People have been sharing their own family histories and even offering to share their precious keepsakes. We are very honoured. Not everything that is filmed is able to make it onto the screens and one item that takes pride of place in the very centre of the room is this photograph of Afro-Caribbean Red Cross workers during the war. So easy to forget the very many nations that were involved in the fight and in this case in the care-giving. Of course with my West Indian roots, I wanted to make sure that their contributions are also known, honoured and remembered.

06/09/2022

Great watching back the room reveal and seeing how chuffed Paul was when it all finally came together. It represents months and months of hard work, but all worth it in the end ❤️

06/09/2022

Owning a Chateau, as beautiful as it is, is definitely a labour of love ❤️ After months and months of work, with the help of our friends Sean , Yaara and apprentice Alfie, we finally restore our first room on the second floor and in so doing, bring its rich history back to life and finally find a way for the Château to commemorate the soldiers and sacrifices of WW2 . . .