The Good Life France Magazine brings you the best of France - inspirational and exclusive features, fabulous photos, mouth-watering recipes, tips, guides, ideas and much more...
Published by the award winning team at The Good Life France
Château de Digoine, Burgundy Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live in a chateau? Nearly half of France’s 44,000 heritage sites are castles in various states of repair and author Catherine Scotto embarked on a journey to find out who lived in these medieval fortresses, and what they were like inside… The greenhouse adjoining the château, commissioned by Chabrillan in 1830 80 | The Good Life France
From the moment that Jean-Louis Remilleux took in hand the extraordinary feat implied in its preservation, Digoine, nestling in its vast Burgundian demesne, can once again reveal its splendor. The château invites us to take a nostalgia-free deluxe promenade through the universe of this captivating art collector. The north-facing Summer Dining Room, also referred to as the Buffet Room, is equipped with two devices for reheating and cooling dating from the eighteenth century, which did service for both dining rooms. On the table can be seen a spectacular Temple of Love in bisque porcelain, a present from Napoleon to the Empress Marie-Louise. The Never-Ending Story Remilleux is a lucky man. A former journalist who currently produces the TV program Secrets d’Histoire, he explains his success as follows: Before buying Digoine in 2012, he had owned the Château de Groussay (just west of Versailles), the celebrated residence of Charles de Beistegui, which he sold after ten years of passionate loving care. In order to be able to afford Groussay he had sold a small eighteenth-century house in the Berry region. He started from nothing—but not everything can be explained by chance. A great lover of decorative art, whose expertise and aesthetic make him the envy of his profession, he is a prudent collector whose taste was formed at a very early age in the flea markets of Paris and London, as well as in auction houses. “I’ve done the only thing I know how to do: please myself,” he explains by way of justification, accusing himself of a bulimic urge to acquire the inordinate number of books, items of furniture and works of art that surround him. Jean-Louis Remilleux has found in the Château de Digoine an endless playground, endowed with hundreds of hectares of land, a pond, and several outbuildings, which he is restoring with gusto. But this is a man for whom nothing is set in aspic. In September 2015 he sold off part of Digoine’s furnishings to Christie’s. “When I run out of space, I sell something off. Rather like being at the casino, where you cash in your chips and leave. I am fond of my possessions, but they are not human: they remain objects.” Within five years the empty spaces left by The Good Life France | 81
FREE The Good Life France ISSUE N
To Subscribe to THE GOOD LIFE FRANC
26 26 The Treasures of Arles Gillia
Captivating Calanques de Piana Crui
affair, four courses and wine - eve
Calanques de Piana Piana Calanques
TOUJOURS LA FRANCE Warm, uplifting
GREAT CANAL, RIVER AND OCEAN CRUISE
Spotlight on: Aisne The department
The streets around the Cathedral ar
22 | The Good Life France
4 Must-sees in Aisne Champagne Chat
The Treasures of Arles © David Jur
28 | The Good Life France
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...