La Bussière and the Château de St-Brisson
France > Loire > East > La Bussiere
Twelve kilometres northeast of Gien is another Château dedicated to catching your own dinner – this time by fishing. The so-called Château des Pêcheurs at LA BUSSIÈRE is parked like a schooner on its enormous, six-hectare fishpond, connected to a formal arrangement on its mainland of gardens and huge outbuildings (April–June & Sept to mid-Nov daily except Tues 10am–noon & 2–6pm; July & Aug daily 10am–6pm; €6). Initially a fortress, the Château was turned into a luxurious residence at the end of the sixteenth century, but only the gateway and one pepper-pot tower are recognizably medieval. guided tours are available, but you're free to wander around, soaking up the genteel atmosphere evoked by the handsome, largely nineteenth-century furnishings and the eccentrically huge collection of freshwater fishing memorabilia bequeathed by Count Henri de Chasseval, whose widow lives in an apartment in one of the outbuildings. Paintings, models, stuffed fish, engravings, flies and rods are scattered throughout the house, while a huge coelacanth (a giant prehistoric relic discovered in the Comoros islands) lurks in a formaldehyde tank in the basement, next to the well-preserved kitchens and laundry.On the south side of the Loire, halfway between Sully and Gien, medieval weaponry is the theme at the Château de St-Brisson (April–Nov daily except Wed 10am–noon & 2–6pm; €3.50), which is energetically run by the local village. In summer, costumed demonstrations (June & mid-Aug to Sept Sun 3.30pm & 4.30pm; July to mid-Aug daily except Wed 3.30pm; €2.30) of three different kinds of catapults and one small cannon are given in the moat. The Château also hosts contemporary art exhibitions and occasional jazz and classical concerts, both of which help to make up for the rather unattractive mix of styles (twelfth- to seventeenth-century) of the building itself.
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