Recommended for its garden, Chateau du Rivau was on out list for a visit. Situated 12km to the South of Chinon on the D749 at Lemere it is easily accessible by car and more importantly for us by bicycle on the Voie Verte all the way from the Chinon camp site, Camping Intercommunal de L’ile Auger. There is plenty of bike parking available and a very large car park if you are in the motorhome.
Entrance was €12.50 but we managed to save €2 per person by presenting our tickets from a visit to the Chinon Fortresse, a sort of loyalty card bonus.
As soon as you enter the courtyard the Chateau stands before you behind the Gargantua kitchen garden and you also get a first sight of some of the whimsical art that adorns the gardens. A lot of Chateau are going with the garden art theme but this seemed a more light hearted approach that certainly worked.
A giant watering can, a pair of giant wellington boots, a large red flower pot and the large pairs of legs in the running forest are all entwined in a story.
The planting in the garden is very tasteful, the orchard is filled with medlar, plum, cherry and apple trees and gives way to a walkway through giant ornamental grasses. And on to a very artistic design for an aviary house by artist Claude Pasquer to house some colourful golden pheasants.
A garden of edible flowers certainly threw up a few surprises and then followed the running forest adorned by the ***legs from the artist Baserode.
The red pot is at the entrance to more formal beds with some different perennials as well as Canna, Riccinus, Rheum and a very colourful display of dahlias. There is nothing in the guide book but reference in the garden is made to a fire which destroyed the roof of the Chateau in 2003, it was a devastating blow to the Chateau but has been reinstated to exacting standards.
The main house is open as part of the visit and is filled with contemporary art, all a bit “Dhali” and of course every Chateau in the region seems to have a room dedicated and depicting a connection with Joan of Arc.
Our visit finished with a visit to the cafe, coffee and apple and caramel cake, necessary of course to fuel our cycle ride back to Chinon.
The Chateau also has accommodation for an overnight stay, details on the link: https://www.chateaudurivau.com/fr/
As a keen gardener I am always looking for ideas I can use and was certainly drawn to the interwoven steel container covers that had been used so effectively to hide the plastic pots, they had been left to rust and certainly looked in keeping with the Chateau
Download 0f the cycle route to the Chateau https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44370105
*** I posted a review to Google Maps Local Guides with text and photographs of the Chateau, it was rejected by Google AI because the photo of the legs was “too sexually explicit”, reviewed on appeal by a human and it was reinstated.
onemorekilometre.wordpress.com 