To enter the lair of our most famous feathers is to enter their privacy a little. Throughout France, their castle, villa or simple maisonette have joined our heritage.
From Guernsey to Cambo-les-Bains via Le Port-Marly, Victor Hugo, Edmond Rostand and Alexandre Dumas have imprinted their personality in monuments that extend their literary treasures. The only excuse for closing the most beautiful works of French literature for a visit.
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Chez Alexandre Dumas, a flamboyant castle (Yvelines)
Alexandre Dumas' house in Port-Marly in the Yvelines was built by the architect Hippolyte Durand in 1844, especially for the writer. NIKOLAI PUSANCEVICH / nikolas - stock.adobe.com
After the success of the Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte-Cristo , Alexandre Dumas is at the height of his glory. In 1844, he had a castle built 20 km from Paris by the architect Hippolyte Durand at Port-Marly. He gives it the name of the famous island of his novel, Monte-Cristo, and takes refuge there far from the tumult of the capital. The novelist spends entire days in his study, a neo-Gothic castle facing the main building, called "Château d'If".
The personality of the writer is omnipresent. Floral patterns, angels, musical instruments, weapons and strange animals punctuate the rooms of the castle. Do not miss the Moorish lounge on the first floor. The walls and the ceiling are strewn with sculpture and arabesques finely chiseled in stucco by Tunisian craftsmen whom the writer met while traveling. And if you do not have the chance to go there, a virtual visit allows you to discover the home of Alexandre Dumas without having to travel.
Château de Monte-Cristo, chemin du Haut des Ormes, Le Port-Marly 78560. Tel. : 01 39 16 49 49. Open Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
OR SLEEP ?
Domaine les Bruyères, 2, rue de l'Étang, 78950 Gambais, Yvelines. Phone: 01 34 83 19 66 . 35 minutes by car.
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Chez Victor Hugo, hermitage with a view (Channel Islands)
Hauteville House, on the island of Guernsey, has retained many references to Victor Hugo. Jean-Christophe Godet
Two houses are not too many to house the memory of Victor Hugo and his monumental work. The leader of romanticism lived in Paris from 1813 to 1851 and from 1871 to his death in 1885. A museum is dedicated to him today in the apartment he rented, place des Vosges, from 1832 to 1848. Closed for work, it will reopen in November 2020.
You have to come on a pilgrimage to the island of Guernsey to immerse yourself in the world of the writer. Victor Hugo lived in exile from 1856 to 1870 at Hauteville House, the only home that had ever belonged to him. It was there that he wrote several of his masterpieces, including Les Misérables . He redesigned the architecture and redecorated the five-story house itself with many references to his writings and his vision of the world.
Victor Hugo's house, 6, place des Vosges, 75004 Paris. Tel .: 01 42 72 10 16. Reopening in November 2020.
Hauteville House, 8 Hauteville, St Peter Port, Guernsey. Since June 20, access to the island is possible but arrival must be followed by a 14-day confinement. Those who have tried the adventure should book the visit at +44 14 81 721 911.
OR SLEEP ?
Duke of Richmond, Cambridge Park, Guernsey. Phone. : +441 481 726 221. 5 minutes by car.
Chez Voltaire, in its neo-classical castle (Switzerland)
The author of "Candide" spent 20 years in this house, from where he sent nearly 6,000 letters and gave theatrical performances. Didier Plowy - Center des monuments nationaux
He cultivated his garden there. After having built a castle between 1758 and 1766 in Ferney, near Geneva, Voltaire built a park and worked the land with his own hands. He transformed the village of Ferney according to the principles set out in Candide . During the 20 years he spent in this house, the man of letters continued his fight against intolerance and wrote nearly 6,000 letters there. He gives theatrical performances and receives the Europe of Enlightenment.
Today, the house has kept Louis XV style armchairs, and a collection dedicated to the writer. With notably a Portrait of Voltaire attributed to Quentin de La Tour or a bust of Voltaire in marble by Jean-Antoine Houdon. To finish the walk, the seven hectare park offers a breathtaking view of Mont-Blanc.
Château de Ferney-Voltaire, allée du Château, 01210 Ferney-Voltaire. Phone. : 04 50 40 53 21. Open daily from 10h to 17h.
OR SLEEP ?
Hotel.D Geneva. 16, rue de Friborg, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland. Phone. : +41 22 777 16 16. From € 186 per night. 25 minutes by car.
Chez Proust, a delicate childhood home (Eure-et-Loir)
In Aunt Léonie's house in Illiers-Combray, visitors are immersed in the myth of "The Search for Lost Time". J. Bastianelli @ SAMP
As a child, Marcel Proust spent his holidays with Jules and Elisabeth Amiot, his paternal uncle and aunt, in the town then simply named Illiers, in Eure-et-Loir. He was inspired by it for the world of Du côté de chez Swann, located in the imaginary city of Combray. It is here that, in the novel, Aunt Léonie offers the narrator madeleines soaked in tea. When, years later, he brought to his lips "a spoonful of tea" where he had "allowed a piece of madeleine to soften", all the memories of his childhood were reborn in his mind.
The museum is teeming with reference to the writer's work. Plates from the Thousand and One Nights hanging on the wall of the dining room with a magic lantern in the writer's room, passing by the herbal teapot and the lime leaves in Aunt Léonie's room. A gentle plunge into the myth of The Search for Lost Time .
Marcel Proust Museum - Aunt Léonie's house, place Lemoine, 28120 Illiers-Combray. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10.45 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2.15 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.
OR SLEEP ?
Manoir des Étilleux, Lieu-dit Le Boulay, 28330 Les Étilleux. Phone. : 06 03 57 33 56. 40 minutes by car.
At Edmond Rostand, neobasque splendor (Pyrénées-Atlantique)
The neo-Basque style villa Arnaga, seen here from the French garden. Villa Arnaga - Edmond Rostand Museum / Cambo-les-Bains. F. Calmejane
Poets should always be allowed to build the house of their dreams. Putting a foot in that of Edmond Rostand, in Cambo-les-Bains in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, is enough to be convinced. In 1902, the playwright acquired an estate which he named Arnaga. The villa is finished two years later. The exterior is composed in a traditional Neobasque style, with cross walls and half-timbering. A sumptuous decor is revealed inside, with the woodwork in the large hall or the library and its 15,000 volumes.
Outside, the estate covers more than 15 hectares. Edmond Rostand is intimately involved in the organization of the gardens. On the rising sun side, an impressive French garden. On the setting sun side, a peaceful English garden. What stroll for a long time in the park of Arnaga, at the risk of never wanting to leave this poem of stone and greenery.
Villa Arnaga - Edmond Rostand Museum, Route du Docteur Camino, 64250 Cambo-les-Bains. Phone. : 05 59 29 83 92. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
OR SLEEP ?
Joangi Guest house, 48, route d'Arneguy, 64220 Uhart-Cize. Tel: 06 85 68 97 74. Open from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. 30 minutes by car.
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Chez George Sand, where the piano tunes still resonate (Indre)
The house of George Sand, in Nohant in Indre, has retained the warm atmosphere of dinners of the time. Maison de George Sand at Nohant Philippe Berthé - CMN
Balzac, Flaubert or Liszt came to visit their novelist friend there. George Sand welcomed them to this delicate house, where she wrote a large part of her work. The piano where Chopin - his lover composed for nine years - composed still rests there, against the wall covered with wallpaper with floral patterns. Many pieces of period furniture have been kept in the bedrooms and living rooms.
The house is surrounded by gardens which extend over 6 hectares. We walk through the flowerbeds, orchards and woods like so many chapters with an atmosphere finely worked by the woman of letters.
George Sand's house, 2, place Sainte-Anne
36400 Nohant-Vic. Reservation compulsory on 02 54 31 06 04. Open every day from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.
OR SLEEP ?
Château Vue Boussac, 97, Gouby, 23600 Saint-Silvain-Bas-le-Roc, Creuse. Phone. : 06 70 08 78 63. 40 minutes by car.
