“To move, to breathe, to fly to float, to gain all while you give. To roam the roads of lands remote, to travel is to live.”
Hans Christian Anderson
Four years ago, while driving through the countryside northeast of my house in Ayzieu, I stopped to photograph a magnificent chateau in complete disrepair in the village of Gabarret-Escalans Prominently displayed on an old, weathered stone gate post was a historical monument designation for the Château de Caumale, so I ventured down the long, rutted driveway flanked by enormous dead oak trees. Cows and geese roamed across the front lawns. I learned from the caretaker, who was renting the property for his animals, that a Parisian family had recently purchased the chateau and, as far as he knew, had no intention of rehabilitating it. What a pity we both thought out loud, punctuating our dismay with gallic shrugs. 
Two weeks ago I was delightfully surprised to be invited by the Patrimoine Société, (French Heritage Society) a group I recently joined, for a private tour of the Château de Caumale which was currently undergoing restoration. I arrived on a beautiful sunny day, white clouds billowing in the azure blue sky. The cows and geese were gone. One of the owners, Geneviève Fabre, led the tour which took 2 hours. From the front yard we could clearly see that the first phase of restoration included the roof of the chateau and the 5 towers. Once we crossed the threshold of the main door of the fifth tower we stepped into centuries of history. Geneviève told us the chateau was built on a Gallo-Roman site and the oldest surviving part is the 12th century foundation. Up a spiral stone staircase we crept in awe. At the first floor landing we gathered and were told a history of the house. 
The main chateau structure dates from the 15th – 17th centuries. It was then known as the Castle of Gabardan, the stronghold of Gaston Phébus and Jeanne d’Albret, the mother of Henri IV, beloved King of France (1553 – 1610). The chateau figured prominently in the 100 Years War and the Wars of Religion. At the beginning of the 19th century, Caumale passed into the hands of Gabriel de Clieu who brought the first coffee tree seeds to Santo Domingo, Haiti, and was also involved with plantations of coffee, cocoa, cotton, indigo, tobacco, spices and sugar cane in Cuba, as well. Naturally, the plantations were worked by slaves, some of whom returned to Caumale with the harvests, the women living in the house, the men in the outbuildings.. 
We flocked into room after room following our hostess, in speechless wonder. 
Antique crystal, china and linen was randomly stacked in cabinets or haphazardly displayed. 
Dust covered chandeliers hung from the middle of oak beamed ceilings and some period furniture sat under protective sheets. 
While other furniture remained opened to the elements, like this Empire furniture.
And below delicately painted frescos of songbirds in an interior chapel were so realistically realized I was transported to the garden trellis upon which they hovered and could almost hear them sing.
I was thrilled to have been given the privilege of seeing this incredible building that was once a home rich with the history of kings and continents and overwhelmed by what seems the insurmountable task of restoration by the Fabre family. Though a labor of love, it is daunting nonetheless.
I’m pleased to offer this kind of experience and many other ones as part of French Country Adventures 2016 season which will include visits to charming villages, antique and flea markets, cooking classes and wine & armagnac tastings. Next year the tours will change and you’ll be able to unleash your creativity on my writer’s and photographer’s tours so visit my website https://frenchcountryadventures.com. for all of the information you’ll need and more….
À très bientôt!
Sue
