Bordeaux, to visit Chateau Montaigne, June 16-18

Montaigne and me!

Three buses (one missed!) two trains and two taxi rides were what it took to detour, on my way to London, to visit Chateau Montaigne. I walked to the bus station in San Sebastián to learn that 2:30 really meant 2:30 AM. I am still not used to military time. Found a very cheap ticket to Bordeaux but the Spanish did not like this off brand French company so “forgot” to put it on the departure monitor. More “tzouris” (“angst” for all you goyim out there) But unlike my thoughts when traveling missing my transport did not mean the end of the world and no one died!I Met a Frenchman in the tourist info office also booked on FLIXBUS and together we complained and got the schedule put up on the monitor reassuring each other that we had a way to Bairritz where I would change for Bordeaux. The bus arrived in Bairritz and deposited us on a street in the middle of nowhere. Not a bus station but really just a tree with a FLIXBUS sign and a 3 hour wait till my connection to Bordeaux. Fortunately there were two lovely Argentinian woman also equally perplexed as to what to do. We made our way down the street to a village center and eventually found a Brazilian restaurant for dinner.

Dinner companions from Argentina.

The food was good and the owner and his wife delighted to be serving fellow South Americans. Good food and conversation made the time pass quickly and soon we were making our way to the bus stop. The bus arrived on time and we got on only to see about 20 teenagers also arrive and fill up our almost empty bus. No longer empty the sounds of teenagers leaving home on an excursions filled the space to overflowing. Despite the noise we did arrive in Bordeaux and were deposited a block or so away from the train station. The three of us lugged our stuff to the station where I reluctantly said goodbye to Paola and Daniele and walked to my room.
My hostess knew i was late and promised to wait up. I could tell my ring had woken her up but she was very sweet but quickly showed me my room and went to bed. The next morning I told her that my research on the bus had told me that the weekend train schedule made it almost impossible to get to the Chateau. So I went with her to the market near by and after watching her do her shopping parted ways. She went home I found coffee and an excellent croissant. After two double espressos I made my way to the train station to make a stab at visiting misseure Montaigne. The guy at the ticket desk spoke excellent English and thought outside the box. He could get me to and back from a small town (Castillon) only 10K away from the chateau. From there he thought I could find a taxi the rest of the way. The train left in 45 minutes and I took it. I arrived thru wine country at Castillon to a very small station with no taxies. I walked down the hill and saw a restaurant with an open door. Inside I enquired about a taxi. The waitress and bartender didn’t speak English but led me to some guys having coffee. They were obvious having their traditional Saturday morning coffee klatch and tho they didn’t speak English I was able to communicate what I wanted to do and one called a friend of his who drove hack. I thanked them profusely and jumped in the cab for a short ride through a gorgeous landscape directly to the chateau. The office at the chateau provided me with a guide – a very cute art history student who gave me a private guided tour.
I had Montaigne all to myself with a charming young lady. We walked from the office to the chateau and she gave me a history of Montaigne and why he was important. Most of the info I knew but it sounded so nice from her that I didn’t mind the review. There was a “modern” chateau appended to the original walls and tower that Montaigne’s wrote his work. The new chateau was quite impressive and a residence off limits. It had been originally built by a finance minister under Napoleon. It was still in the same family updated with larger windows and TV cameras that swiveled to follow us as we moved about the grounds.
Elouise unlocked the tower with a very large and old key and we climbed a spiral staircase with very worn steps.
First stop, the chapel with a domed ceiling painted blue with stars. Montaigne’s bedroom was just above and this allowed him to say that he slept above the stars. There was an opening in the wall so that when Montaigne became to ill to walk downstairs he could still hear the church service below him. There were some frescos that were original to his time including one of St Michael slaying the dragon above the alter. Everything was quite faded but still relatively intact.

After a bit more history review Elouise led me upstairs to the bedroom that had a bed in one corner – not original. And a reproduction of a bust of Montaigne that I stood next to and had the requisite photo taken. There was a very old chest that she claimed belonged to Montaigne which when discovered in the attic in the 19th century contain his diary of his travels to Italy. The chest remained here the diary is in Bordeaux.

The crown jewel of course was the library above this room where Montaigne wrote/dictated most of his works.The books had long ago been dispersed but they had a drawing of the curved bookshelf that once housed his 1000 volume collection. The fireplace had been closed off by Montaigne who feared his most prized and valuable positions might burn. This made the room terribly uncomfortable in the winter. Off this circular room was another small room where a working fireplace existed and Montaigne could repair to when he needed to warm himself.
The rafters of the library are famous. Montaigne’s had incised into them lines from Latin literature. These were still quite legible but Elouise told me they had been slightly restored and charcoal dust replaced into the incised letters.
These quotes did not all face the same way because Montaigne’s liked to walk while he thought and dictated to his assistant. Sedentary thinking was not for him. And so some quotes faced one way others the opposite. That was something I didn’t know and was delighted when Elouise told me this story. This whole time I was really moved by my visit. To actually stand where Montaigne stood and see the same views he did out the windows of his bedroom and library was an honor and a thrill. Five years before I had spent an entire summer reading 3-4 hours a day in Harvard Yard plowing through all his writings and now here I was in the place where they were first put on paper! What a thrill and I was so lucky to see it at my own pace with a private guide. And a cute one to boot! Elouise looked at her watch and said we were way past the time allotted for the tour so she led me back to the front office and offered me a tasting of the wines produced on the estate. I had a bit of red mainly to continue my time with her. The wine was fine the guide was finer. It tipped Elouise and she went off to have her lunch and I slowly walked back to the chateau to have a last look around.

The original tower where Montaigne composed his works.

I shot a few photos I’d been too distracted to do while touring the tower and spaces around it. I walked around the walls and found myself on a gorgeous overlook of the countryside.
I reminded myself that this had been Montaigne’s everyday experience. Again I shot some photos and then reluctantly made my way back to the entry and called the taxi guy from the card he had given me. I met two fellow Montaigne enthusiasts from Belgium patiently waiting for the chain to be lifted and the chateau reopened at two.t

We chatted a bit and then they walked off and my taxi soon arrived. He took me back the way we had come and left me at the restaurant where he picked me up. I had a lunch of sliced ham, bread, and beer after which I made my 3:10 train back to Bordeaux. I was tired when I got back to my room but utterly delighted with my day.
I had a skype meeting with Boston that was a waste of time after which I walked to dinner and sat outside with a giant gothic tower overlooking my table. After a dinner of Duck Confit and Harcort Vert (finally vegetables!!!!) I walked to the river for a stroll and then slowly back to my room. What a great day!!!!
At this writing the girl next to me is reading The Brothers Karamazov and the guy across the table is reading Descartes! And me writing about Montaigne. What an erudite group.