In May 2016, I went on a trip with my parents from Paris to Saint-Malo in Brittany. I chose to travel through the Loire Valley to see some of the less famous castles (how many can you see now?) What was tried?, Blois or Chambord, although they are all lovely). On that warm May day I chose to go and visit the Château de Le Lude for two main reasons. The first is that it was right on the road between Le Mans where we were staying for a few days and Pontresbo Abbey Which we wanted to visit. The second reason why I wanted to visit the palace is its special name, which reminded me of both someone I knew in the past and an amusing story about the Catholic Church (but for that you'll have to stay with me or scroll to the end of the article...
In any case, after a few hours of driving on the roads of the Loire Valley, we arrived at the sleepy village next to the palace. What a surprise when I arrived at the palace gates, we suddenly discovered that the palace gates were locked. Any other person would have cursed the French, called them anti-Semites, wished the owner of the palace a meeting with a spoiled eclair, and then got in the car and drove away. I, on the other hand, decided to go and try the local tourist office. And you should know this, it doesn't matter how remote or even boring the village you are visiting is, as long as there was at least one small stone that got into your shoe. Louis XIV While walking around the area, suddenly, miraculously, a tourist office would be set up there. And indeed, to my great joy, the tourist office stood in the square of the sleepy village, and, miraculously, it was even staffed.
I asked the tourist office why the palace was closed today and she announced that it was closed for rehearsals to be held in the palace garden. A person from the village would repeat the refrain from the previous paragraph (curses, anti-Semites, spoiled eclairs, etc.) and leave. I, on the other hand, nonchalantly pulled out the business card of “Francophiles Anonymous” and said with Israeli impudence that I had been sent to document the palace and that I simply had to go in. And indeed, my broken French, the beautiful logo on the card and her desire to get rid of me and get back to “her daily labor,” did their job. She picked up the phone to the castle and after a short conversation she told me that we could only walk in the gardens because the castle was locked. Oh well, I told myself, that’s not bad either and we went to the castle.
Then when we entered the castle garden, the following spectacle unfolded before our eyes:
https://www.facebook.com/FrancophilesAnonymes/videos/593485770813944/
It turns out that in Lod there is a group of people who dance Renaissance dances in period costume, and just today they decided to practice for a show that is held from time to time in the castle. And for those who want to know what it really looks like, here is a video from one of the Renaissance celebrations that took place in the town in 2014:
So after talking to these nice people I went for a walk in the nice gardens of the castle so I could walk around it and see all its wings. What I discovered was that unlike most castles I have visited, which have a uniform guideline, each wing of the La Lode Castle is built in a different style and yet there is some general harmony. In order to understand how this interesting castle was built, it is worth getting to know its history.
The story of La Lôde Castle
The Château de la Lôde is located between Le Mans and the city of Tours and is considered the northernmost castle in France.Loire valleyThe castle began to be built in the 10th century and its strategic location made it a major target for conquest during the The Hundred Years' WarIn 1457, Jehan de Daillon received the castle and his descendants began to transform it during the 16th century from a military fortress into a pleasure castle in the Italian style that was common at the time. Since the Dion family was close to the kings France Quite a few kings stopped at the castle, enjoyed royal hospitality and left their mark there.
https://youtu.be/DK2wtS3S9s0
During the 18th century, the castle passed into the hands of Joseph Duvelaer, one of the owners of the East India Company, who after a long journey in the East returned to the palace and brought his Chinese wife there, which was a great innovation at the time. His niece, the Marquise de la Vieuville, built the last wing, in the 18th century style, thus giving the castle its final form. Fortunately, she also managed, together with the townspeople, to save the castle from the vandalism of French Revolution And so it remained almost unharmed. Her descendants continued to maintain the castle and it is still in their possession today. Since it is a private castle, the castle is not always open and entry hours are limited, so it is recommended to enterCastle site And make sure it's open, to avoid any heartache. In any case, if you're in the area, I definitely recommend visiting there and enjoying the architectural marvel and charming gardens.
And now for an amusing anecdote related to the name of the castle.
There is a cardinal in the Vatican who sits on the “Eliezer Ben Yehuda” standard of the Catholic Church and whose job is to modernize the Latin language, so that it is also suitable for the 21st century. One day, this cardinal received a letter in which he was asked to invent a Latin word for the concept of a strip club. Our friend the cardinal thought for a long time and finally came to a solution. He remembered that in the days of ancient Rome, not only gladiators but also acrobats and dancers called ludus appeared in the arenas. Hence, from that moment on, the cardinal decided to call a strip club in Latin: Ludus Nudus!
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