“It feels like Jurassic Park”
, a surprised visitor.
A “No trespassing” sign precedes a closed barrier.
Our white jeep (but not for long) sinks into the part of the Domaine de Chambord that is off-limits to the public.
Welcome to deer territory.
The adventure started a few minutes earlier, at 6:30 sharp at the edge of the woods.
By the light of a flashlight - the night is still opaque - a forest guide proceeds to call the guests.
It's fast: the group of about ten people is made up entirely of families.
The slab of the deer, prologue to his love and harbinger of autumn in the forests of France and Navarre, is one of those shows that bring people together.
All these little people settle in the back of the vehicle, heading for the forest - or should we say the forests, since it is
To discover
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At this hour, the pace of the place is hardly sympathetic.
The trees dripping down the road look ghostly.
Shrunken by the cold and fatigue in this pick-up plunged into darkness, we are tempted to end our night.
But our drowsiness is prevented by a sudden appearance: a young deer advances a shy paw on the asphalt.
There, just a few meters from us.
The "Ouh" and the "Wouah" greet this premonitory appearance and our safari resumes in the night.
Read alsoDeer slab: our favorite places to watch (and hear) this fall show
On the lookout
A thin net of camouflage, behind which to see without being seen.
Claire Rodineau / Le Figaro
About ten minutes later, our convoy arrives at La Guillonnière, a remote farmhouse that has become a hunting lodge, and now converted into an observatory.
It faces a vast open meadow where, it is said, deer like to meet.
We get out of the car with our mouths shut: the order has been passed to shut up and not to slam the doors.
The loves of the deer should not be disturbed.
A steep wooden staircase leads upstairs to the framework of the farmhouse, where a room plunged into darkness awaits us.
It's cold there: happy are those who followed the injunction, made the day before, to dress warmly.
The walls are pierced with wide bays covered with a camouflage net, to see without being seen.
Useless precaution: you can't see anything, neither inside nor outside, the night is so dark.
The novices look at each other without seeing each other, question each other but dare not ask a question.
Is this then the roar of the deer?
Regulars, more sure of themselves, sit down straight away on the benches that surround the room.
We had been warned: some aficionados come every year, booking their ticket for this popular show three months in advance.
In our perch, we would hear a pin drop.
The slightest movement cracks our modest seat and earns us a wrathful glance from our neighbor - the regular - who is determined not to lose a crumb of the show that is long overdue.
After a few minutes, a cry finally breaks this somewhat heavy silence.
Guttural, hoarse, coming from the depths of the forest.
Impossible for the moment to discern the slightest animal in the great nothingness in front of us, the darkness is complete.
But of course he is there.
The king of the forests.
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A quarrel with mouth what do you want
Moment suspended in Chambord, when the stag sings its song.
National Estate of Chambord / Press Photo
Around 7 a.m., the animals begin to take shape in Chinese shadow on the dark green canvas of the meadow.
We first see its woods.
Right in the middle of a herd of females and their fawns, the young deer comes and goes, his throat stretched skyward.
Suddenly, a second one, majestic and with even more ramified woods, appears on the side of the screen.
Neither one nor two, the first, in no way frightened by this competitive antlers, rushes to scare him away.
In the background, a third male lets out a few shy groans without ever approaching.
Courageous but not reckless.
Our deer can rest easy.
While the males are arguing like this with their mouths, the females graze quietly, indifferent to their noisy merry-go-round.
O toxic masculinity, have you contaminated our forests?
A boar makes a surreptitious appearance then leaves, swallowed up by the green immensity.
Little by little, time stretches out and we no longer see the minutes pass.
Watching this bestiary worthy of
Bambi
evolve, the most naturally in the world, a few minutes from one of the most touristic places in France is something unreal.
At the stroke of nine o'clock, stomachs begin to roar, too, and it's time to turn back.
The breakfast at the neighboring Le Relais de Chambord hotel seems the right thing to do.
On the way back, the deer's lament is still heard in the distance.
This will be the case until mid-October, maybe longer if we are lucky.
Read alsoItinerant horseback riding, another way to visit the castles of the Loire
How to attend the stag roar in Chambord?
To attend the slab at the Domaine de Chambord, several options:
The simplest: five viewing areas (50 people maximum at a time) and five watchtowers (4 to 5 people) are freely accessible in the castle park.
Plan here;
On reservation this time, the estate offers two formulas.
“Listening to the slab” (the one tested by
Le Figaro
) takes small groups of a maximum of sixteen to the Guillonnière farm, in the morning from 6 a.m. (€35) or in the evening from 6 p.m. (€40) .
"At the heart of the brame" is organized on demand for small pre-made groups of four maximum, from 4:45 p.m. to nightfall.
They are taken to a private watchtower chosen by the forest guide the same morning.
€200 per group.
More information on the Château de Chambord website.
Such.
: +33 (0)2 54 50 40 00 and reservations@chambord.org
The hotel Le Relais de Chambord (4*) offers an offer around the slab with the double room, the breakfasts and the listening to the slab in the evening, from 395 € for two people.
Last availability: Friday, October 7.
Such.
: +33 (0)2 54 81 01 01.
