Welcome to Chateau de Bonneval in Coussac-bonneval. Chateau de Bonneval is located some 40km south of Limoges and 50km north of Brive. It is a family chateau It has always belonged to a Bonneval family. It's one of the few chateau in France never to have left the family, and still to be inhabited by the family. Inside, you'll see what each generation has brought to the chateau, as well as the modifications each generation has made to the exterior. They have transformed this castle from a medieval castle to one that is habitable today. You can see the medieval facade with its two drawbridges. And as you go around, what's really interesting, and this is what we always tell our visitors, is to walk all the way around the castle, because you're going to see precisely these modifications. When you start on the north side, you'll see a facade that is entirely 17th century, with the mullioned windows that really characterize this period. My parents restored these windows exactly as described in our archives. Continuing a little further, you'll see an 18th century facade. This facade was opened by Hippolyte de Bonneval. Who did a lot of work on the exterior and also a lot in the interior. We continue a little further. And then when we come to the northwest side, it's the medieval facade again, still without any openings. When you arrive, you'll also see the family emblem on the drawbridge, a lion with the motto victorious at all hazards, which could be translated as victorious against all dangers. I'd now like to take you inside the chateau, where you'll find a magnificent inner courtyard. Please follow me. So here we are in the chateau's inner courtyard. It's a Renaissance courtyard. It's very, very surprising to find a Renaissance courtyard in a medieval castle. This courtyard is really very, very beautiful. You can see the columns that support it. These columns are completely different from one another. They were brought here by Germain de Bonneval. The oldest we can see on this side are in sandstone, and these three, which were restored later, are in granite. They were restored by Hippolyte de Bonneval. You'll be hearing about Hippolyte de Bonneval all the time in the chateau, because he's someone who made many, many changes. He lived here for 56 years and is responsible for making this medieval chateau habitable. Hippolyte de Bonneval is from the late 18th to the early 19th century. This inner courtyard used to be a walkway. In medieval times, everything was open and ippolit, precisely in the spirit of making the chateau habitable, closed these walkways and created these galleries with the beautiful stained glass windows you can see. And in the evening the chateau changes completely. It becomes a little mystical, with little lights and some illuminations. It's really another castle between day and night. And it's a really. It's really something fabulous. There's no other word for it. It's really superb. Now, I'd like to take you up to the archive room. So here we are in the chateau's archives. I call this room the heart of the Castle. And why? Because here we have almost 30,000 archive items. These 30,000 items tell the whole story of the chateau. Many inventories from almost the time the chateau was built right up to the present day. And we're still working on the archives. Everything that happens in the family, like the birth of my son, baptisms, weddings and so on. We continue, we write them down, we put them in boxes for future generations. So that's really the heart of it. Here you'll find parchment documents written in Old French and Latin, some of which are very difficult to read. And the oldest documents we have date back to the 13th century. So it's really a room where when you start to open one of these boxes, you don't see the time passing because you start to immerse yourself in it and you want to know something else, and it leads to something else anyway. It's a real Paradise for history buffs. Behind me is the family tree. This family tree is very, very complete. It starts in 1050. So here we have the first signature. It was a donation of land from a Bonneval to monks at Solignac. The first bonaval was named Gerard, like me. In fact, I'm the one who's named after him. And there are only two giros in the family history. And amazingly enough, is this a coincidence or not? Well, that's for you to ponder. As you can see, we've come to the end with my parents, Bernard and Marie Antoinette de Bonneval. We just can't go on with another archive. So we're in the process of starting another one here. Well, beginning with me, whose first name is also Gerard. So you see this family story almost a thousand years later? Well, we've got a Gerard de Bonneval starting to. We hope it'll go on for another thousand years. We'll have to wait and see. So now I'd like to invite you into one of the rooms. It's called the Kings Room. So here we are in the King's bedroom. This room is so named because we once had Henry the Fourth, who at the time wasn't Henry the Fourth, but Henry de Navarre, who took part in a battle in a little commune called La Roche la Baye about 15km from here in 1569, and he took part in this battle with Gabriel de Bonneval. So before leaving for this battle he would have slept here. Well, we have in our archives that Gabriel de Bonneval took part in this battle at La Roche le Bel with Henri de Navarre, but that Henry the Fourth would have slept here is already a bit of an oral tradition. Let's face it, because there are several places where Henry the Fourth is said to have slept, such as Saint-Yrieix and Ségur le Chateau. These small towns also claim that Henry the Fourth slept before the Battle of La Roche l'Abeille. So here, as a small tribute to this oral tradition, you have the bust of Henry the Fourth, with some very fine tapestries, with the arms of France and the arms of Navarre. You also have a portrait of César Phoebus and César Phoebus Francois. His son is the one I mentioned in the family tree. This is where the eldest branch stopped and passed on to the youngest branch with Andre de Bonneval, whose portrait of Andre you can also see here. Many visitors sometimes tell us it's true that you have archives that are very, very complete. How was it not destroyed during the revolution? Or how was the chateau not also damaged during the revolution? Well, at the time of the revolution, the Marquis was very popular and was protected well. The castle in particular was protected by the villagers, but that didn't stop him from going to jail. His name was Gabriel Andre de Bonneval. Gabriel Andre de Bonneval was a very good painter, and was immediately noticed and requisitioned by the Revolutionary Committee to restore paintings that had been looted and stolen. And, of course, Gabriel de Bonneval was restoring very slowly because the longer he took to restore a painting, the more time he gained to escape the guillotine. And in fact, the jailer who became a good friend, asked him to paint a portrait of his daughter in the same way he made the portrait last a little. Like in the tales of the Arabian Nights. You can see Gabriel Andre as a child standing with his mother in this portrait, which is here in this room. Let's move on to Hippolyte de Bunuel's bedroom. So here we are in one of the rooms that I find one of the most beautiful, because it's a room in a tower, so it has several windows the sun shines in at various times of the day. It was Hippolyte de Bunuel's room, about which I've already told you a little, and we're going to continue talking about him, because we're going to see other rooms and other transformations that Hippolyte made in the chateau. You can see his portrait where he's dressed as an empire general. Hippolyte was a visionary. Hippolyte de Bonneval began to see that kaolin was being made. There was a large kaolin quarry at Marconia, which is five kilometers from Cusack. And he thought, hey porcelain, why not get into that? And he set up a factory. The factory didn't operate for long, from 1820 to 1855, but it did make some very, very, very fine objects. We'll be looking at some examples in the display case downstairs. Ippolita to show a little of his character. Hippolyte de Bonneval had been called to court because the king was looking for someone to hold the title of Duke in Limousin. Hippolyte was one of the king's suitors, so he called him in. Uh, but the problem was, in those days, well, you couldn't work. Or what work you could get was perhaps in glass making, but certainly not in porcelain or anything else. So the king presents this to Hippolyte, saying, yes, you do have an unfortunate history of porcelain. Could you stop that for a moment? Ippolit looked at the king and said. Listen, sir, I'd rather make limousine plates than court dishes. And he left. So you can see the character of Hippolyte de Bonneval. So before we move on to another bedroom of a character who left his mark on the history of the Bonneval family, I'd like to show you a little of this ceiling. The ceiling of this bedroom. Where? At the end of the tower. It's a pointed ceiling, as you can see, and there are almost eight meters between the top of the ceiling and the floor of this room. So, as you can see at Bonneval, the proportions are really something enormous. Anything here takes on proportions very, very quickly. Before we go into the bedroom of Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, better known as the Pasha. I'd like to tell you a little about this gallery. We're on the second floor. We call this gallery the Ancestors Gallery, because here you'll find several portraits of my ancestors, including Germain de Bonneval, the man we've been talking about who built the chapel tower and designed the inner courtyard. And then portraits, two or rather photos of more recent generations. Here you have my grandfather with my grandmother Henry and Blanche, née Lapanouse. You have my father here with my mother. That is Bernard and Marie Antoinette born Alméida Correa, who was Brazilian. Me and my wife Martha born Almeida Goncalves, also Brazilian. And my son, who just got married two years ago to Kate Flanagan, and they both live in Washington. So here we are in the bedroom of Claude-alexandre de Bonneval, better known as the Pasha de Bonneval. He was a real character. And when you look up or research the Bonneval family, it's always his name that comes up. He was a well-known figure in the 18th century. He lived between the 17th and 18th centuries. So why was he nicknamed the Pasha de Bonneval or the Pasha du Limousin. He was a brilliant military man. He began his military career very, very young. By the age of 13, he was already a naval officer, but he had a strong character and this character sometimes played him a lot of bad tricks. He had a misunderstanding with Louis the 14th, his Minister of War, Shyamalan, which forced him to leave. So he left for Vienna under Prince Eugene thereto in the infantry he did many things. They won many, many battles. But still his character, he wanted to be even greater. Greater than Prince Eugene. And Prince Eugene put the kibosh on him. And so once again he was forced to leave. And now he's off to Istanbul, Constantinople. And in Constantinople, likewise, he put the entire Turkish army back on its feet. It was an army that didn't yet have big, big resources. They had techniques that dated back to Suleiman. And naturally, having a brilliant military man like Claude Alexander was immediately accepted. And so he set up this Turkish army. He even built a school, a kind of elite school that still exists today, a bit like the fancier we have here in France. He did it over there in Constantinople. And to thank him for all this, the Sultan gave him the title of Pasha. Pasha with three tails, which today corresponds to a general with, say, three stars. So he was really a character with a very, very strong personality. He always said he wanted to mix his bones with those of his ancestors. So my grandparents, even my parents, tried to bring him back here to France. But no way. The Turkish government doesn't want it. It's a national monument over there. So if you ever want to visit his tomb, you can. Claude Alexandre de Bonneval. You have several portraits of him here in this room. He was born in this room. And that's what makes it so special that when visitors come, they ask us, can we visit the Pasha's room? Well, yes. It's this room where he was born. In this bed you see here. So it was the Pasha's room. But it was his mother's room at the very beginning. Claude de Montceaux room. And Claude de Monceau was really a bit esoteric, perhaps, I don't know, but you can see some magnificent woodwork in this room. And these woodworks, and I'd love to show you one of them. Very, very elaborate where you can. You can see. So the Apache wasn't born yet, but you can see some coconut palms with a kind of small boat that might look a little like a Turkish boat, you know. So was it already sensing something of the Pasha's future? We don't know. And with this little quote that can be read here, a more or less joint. It's really a work that dates back to the time of Claude de Monceau. As you can also see in this wonderful door. Here we have the passion of the Christ. But here a few figures which I'm not sure what they represent. What was Claude de Monceau thinking when she had this woodwork done? We don't know. And here there's also a little detail that's quite interesting because many visitors, and I think we all have this idea in our heads, think that in a fortified castle there are secret passages, there are oubliettes. Well, there were no oubliettes in Bonneval. But we do have a little secret passage I'd like to show you. By opening this cupboard, which is a closet. So far we've got a normal cupboard. And if we open the little door, the first one. And if we open the second one again. Well, here we are in the King's bedroom. We don't have many of these. There's only this one in Bonneval, but it's still our little secret passage. So now let's move on to the chateau's chapel, built by Germain de Bonneval. So here we are at the Chapelle du Chateau. The chapel built by Germain de Bonneval. It's a small chapel just above the drawbridge. It's a very, very beautiful chapel. As you can see, it's a pointed chapel with the Bonneval coat of arms in the centre. You'll see some very fine angels attributed to Bouchardon. Of this chapel has been consecrated in 1825. Um, it means that all Catholic rites can be performed here. And in consequence, we've had lots of baptisms, a few weddings, and even weeks. So it's a living chapel, or at least a chapel that's often used. In fact, all the rooms you'll see at Bonneval are living rooms. My grandparents, like my parents and even us with Martha. We don't want to have a side. We can always think, yes, the castle, you have a side to you and all the rest. You're not there. Well, no. We live everywhere in the castle. That's what makes it so special. As said by numerous of visitors, this chateau is alive. It's got a soul. You'll see the salon we're going to see next. It's not a huge salon, but it's a big one. But it's where we are receiving our friends. Also in the dining room when we have meals, the bedrooms, all the bedrooms. You've seen the pasha's bedroom, the king's bedroom and then some more. Well, these rooms as where our friends sleep. So you see, it's a castle that's really very, very much alive. And one that we want to keep a little bit in that spirit. In the chapel here you'll see several little saints. These are saints from Brazil. I told you that my mother was Brazilian and my wife, Martha, is Brazilian. During the visit, you'll also find some small objects from this country. These are little saints from the 18th century, from the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. And then you also have here the patron saint of Brazil. Who can be seen here is Nuestra Señora Aparecida, Our Lady of Apparition. As well as all the other little saints you see on the dresser. These are also saints from Brazil. So now let's move on to the first gallery, which we call the Page Gallery. So here we are in the first gallery of the chateau known as the Page Gallery. Here we'll find a lot of decorations by Hippolyte de Bonneval. We have five of these tapestries which can be found in the chateau's archives. These tapestries are distinguished by the coat of arms at the top, the Bonneval coat of arms, and the coat of arms of the Beynac family, a Périgord family. Moving on a little further, we see this magnificent doorway which dates back to the German Renaissance. The door is entirely carved in the mass. You can see the martyrdom of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. This door was bought by Hippolyte de Bonneval and placed here in the chateau for Hippolyte de Bonneval. It had to be the most beautiful. Everything inside the chateau had to be the most beautiful. He had his own spotters, who were always looking at auctions or castles that were being dismantled. If there was anything interesting. Hippolyte would buy it and put it here at Bonneval. I think that's what he came up with because this gallery is really superb. And the rooms were going to see next decorated by Hippolyte are magnificent. Moving on a little further, we come across this chest. One of the oldest in the chateau. It's a chest that from the whole side that we can see here dates from the 14th century. Uh, it depicts Christ with his 12 apostles. It really is one of the castle's most important pieces. Another very interesting piece is this Christ. This Christ is a 17th century work, a Portuguese Christ, a Portuguese work. It stands out a little because we're used to seeing Christ on a cross or in a crucified position, but here we see him seated with his hands tied. So this too is a very interesting piece because of that. If we continue to move forward a little in this gallery, well, we are going to find more Brazilian objects here. We can find some stones from Brazil. We also have some small Brazilian folk objects. And even in the land of enamels here in Limoges. We have an enamel made in Brazil. This beautiful object can be found here under the sideboard. It's an enamel depicting dancers. These are dancers from the north of Brazil. They're dancers from Bahia. And here they're doing a dance for the goddess of the seas, known in Brazil as the Yemanja. Moving on. We find the three other tapestries I mentioned at the beginning with the Bonneval and Bénac arms. So here we are already in the first small salon. This whole side was designed and decorated by Hippolyte de Bonneval. All the openings I mentioned at the beginning. When you take a tour of Bonneval, you'll come across the 18th century facade, which you'll find here. Now there are 17 windows that Hippolyte had opened. You have to imagine that before. In the medieval period, there were no openings at all. And it's thanks to these openings that the chateau is now really lit up. As before, there was no light at all. You'll also find some small examples of hippolito's manufacture. These are porcelain pieces that Hippolyte made in his factory. They were all white. You can see here, for example, this soup tureen. It was then sent to Paris for decoration. As I said, this factory only operated for about 30 years. All the woodwork here is here thanks to Hippolyte de Bonneval. In the grand salon we're going to see next. The woodworks are stamped by the famous carpenter Pluvinet. The woodwork probably belonged to a private mansion in Paris, but was later dismantled. It was really houseman fashion, like Boulevard Haussmann. Hippolyte was on the lookout for this as soon as he found this private mansion, the name of which I've unfortunately forgotten, but I may be able to find it later. He had the woodwork purchased, brought here to Bonneval and asked the person who took care of the decoration work to install it here at the castle. He didn't want to know if it was right or wrong. He had to put it in Bonneval. Here's an interesting detail. Even this column just over there. You can see it's a bit twisted. We could say it's really a bit of a DIY job, but Hyppolite was determined to have this decor in this room. In the large living room. Hyppolite here made a really good job. You can't see any twisted columns. You have these two mirrors facing each other a little which give this notion of depth. A very, very fine ceiling which represents the time taking away the truth. It's attributed to Boucher, a great painter of the 18th century. You have this marvellous tapestry from Fontainebleau depicting Mercury. Fontainebleau tapestries are quite rare, only in use for about 15 years under the reign of Francois the First. So everything was very carefully chosen. So you see, everything was really chosen, thought through. And it had to be something really beautiful for Bonneval. Hippolyte really adored this chateau and wanted it to be one of the most beautiful in France. There's a very, very fine painting behind it, representing a still life by Gabriel Andre, the man I told you about who escaped the revolution thanks to his talent as a painter. You can also see the door tops. Those door tops are representing scenes from Greek mythology, also brought by Hippolyte. Those door tops are from the 18th century. Here's another small salon, the salon de Dion. And here again you can see Hippolyte's passion for Bonneval. With this large fireplace, for example. So, as I said, Hippolyte was always on the lookout for objects from various chateau. So he found a castell which had burned. Name Chateau D'anet. There has been an auction, and he bought the lintel of Diane de Poitiers bed, which he had put here. He then added other woodwork to create this majestic fireplace. He got so attached to that piece that you can see the ceiling had to be pierced to fit the mantel. You'll also find some interesting door tops with Flemish decorations, also dating from the 18th century. So here we are in the chateau's dining room. As I said earlier, the dining room is a room where we live. We eat our meals here. This dining room. It's a very well decorated dining room. There's a rather amusing story behind the paintings you see here. They're late 17th early 18th century paintings. Paint by Schumann, a Dutch painter. We had found that in the archives that there were many paintings by the painter Schumann, and my parents, when they took possession of the chateau, couldn't find these paintings. But where are the Schumann paintings? And once, when they opened an old trunk in the attic, they found boxes rolled up like this. When he opened, it was the famous Schumann paintings, which were in poor condition, as you can imagine. So they took them all to Paris and had them restored. And here they are, the Schumann paintings. The painter Schumann was quite famous for painting birds. I'm not a great connoisseur to explain all these birds to you, but they're typical of our region, the Limousin. You have a beautiful tapestry. This tapestry is from the Flanders Manufactory. It's also from the 18th century. It depicts King Shapur, Victor over the Emperor Valerian. You can see King Shapur smiling. But don't be fooled by appearances. He was a very, very cruel man. He turned Emperor Valerian into his running board so he could ride his horse. You see. It was really something to belittle his enemy. So here we. Have something quite interesting too. We're still within Hippolyte sets. This is the ancestor of the fireplace insert. It's loaded with wood at the back. Then we open these little openings that we have on the sides here. The warm air heats up the room a little, and at the same time, there must have been a plate here at the top of this stove. And we could heat the dishes. So that's why it was installed here in the dining room so we could have a plate warmer. This brings us to the end of our tour. I hope you've enjoyed this visit, and that it's really going to inspire you to come and get to know this chateau, and to feel those little vibrations that my wife and I try to pass on. So I hope all this makes you want to get to know Coussac-bonneval and above all, the Chateau de Bonneval. Martha and I will be delighted to welcome you and show you around the chateau, which has been in the family for almost a thousand years now.
