Medieval Flavor Recaptured in the Loire Valley

“Colored banners and shields hang out of the windows--the walls are gay with festal drapery. The market is full: Venison, game, fish, wax, pepper and spice are displayed . . . the fiddlers and singers wander ‘round, and over all, the church bells ring through the town, filling the air with gay and cheerful sounds.”

That description of a festival was written in the 13th Century, but still accurately captures the flavor of the annual medieval market in Chinon.

Each year during the first weekend in August the 9,000 inhabitants of this city step back more than 600 years to wear the clothes and enjoy the food and entertainments of the Middle Ages. We’re in the Loire River chateau country 170 miles south of Paris.

This year, on Aug. 1 and 2, the stalls of artisans and craftsmen will again line the narrow streets of the old section of Chinon. Plays, magicians, acrobats, dancers and musicians will create a swirling backdrop as market-goers browse among stalls selling everything from dried herbs to silver jewelry.

Set by the placid Vienne River near its confluence with the Loire, Chinon rises between the river and a cliff on which stand the formidable remains of a medieval chateau. The triangular outcrop, secured on two sides by rock, has been fortified for 1,000 years.

Chinon’s old town, directly below the chateau, has been carefully restored. Stone and half-timbered buildings push in on delightfully narrow, crooked streets. Pictorial signs announce places of business--crossed spoons mark a restaurant, three goblets a tavern.

Rabelais, one of the giants of French literature, was born near Chinon about 1495. He would feel at home in Chinon’s old town, which looks much as it did when he strolled its streets as a child.

During the market, bright-red and yellow banners drape the buildings. Peasants, nobles, scullery maids, acrobats, wenches and troubadours mingle with market visitors.

Idly strolling the crowded streets is the best way to enjoy the market. Behind their stalls and booths, craftsmen practice their trades between customers: A cobbler puts the finishing touches on a pair of clogs, a weaver spins thick brown yarn, a jeweler sells bright enamel inlaid pins and pendants.

In one stall a sand artist produces intricate designs in small glass bottles. Arrayed before him are small containers of perhaps 20 colors of fine sand. He pours a little of one color into a bottle, then carefully pushes the grains into place with a tiny wand.

Gently, he adds a bit of a different color and works it into place. He works slowly, ignoring the crowds that bump the table and hover over his shoulder, pushing in for a peek. His concentration never wavers.

The crowd holds its collective breath each time he adds another color. Before our eyes tiny landscapes of white houses, pink sunsets, green fields take shape along the sides of the bottle.

In another narrow street a leather workers sews vests and jerkins, glancing occasionally at a troupe of acrobats, sword swallowers, fire-eaters and jugglers who entertain crowds of wide-eyed children and entrance adults.

Farther along a jongleur , a traveling musician, performs simultaneously on guitar, kazoo and drum, a white rabbit perched on a shoulder.

Down another street marches a solemn procession of censer-swinging altar boys, dark-robed monks and bishops formally arrayed in white-and-gold brocade robes and miters. Behind them parades a group of town officials, resplendent in scarlet robes and gold chains, carrying their official staffs.

The market is, if nothing else, a chance to gorge yourself in the hearty medieval manner. Light eating was not popular in the Middle Ages.

Everywhere, booths offer fruit pastries, honey candies, biegnets and other fried sweets, custard tarts, meat pies, heavy whole-grain bread and rich, tangy goat cheeses.

Chinon lies in the heart of the Loire wine country, so it’s easy to find sweet, white Vouvray, sparkling semisweet Saumur and fruity Chinon reds to go with the hearty food. And the hard cider is sweet, tangy, delicious.

To merely quench thirst, there’s new, or non-alcoholic, cider and juices from strawberries, apricots and pears, which are produced on the spot in a most un-medieval blender.

Medieval banquets are always in progress. The most authentic is the one served inside the Painted Caves, ancient quarters hollowed out of the cliff beneath the chateau.

During the medieval market the caves are set with an immense banquet offering breads, sausages, casseroles, pastries, and those medieval staples, roast pig and fowl.

Banquet-goers help themselves and take their food to long, narrow tables to eat in the cool half-light of the cave. Modern visitors are allowed knives, forks and spoons as well as plates, a luxury shared by only the wealthy in the Middle Ages.

For a break from the crowds and bustle of the fair, take the steep stone stairs up the cliff to the chateau. You will be standing in one of the most historic spots in France.

The walls of the chateau provide an overview of the pointed gray roofs of Chinon, as well as glimpses of the banners and bustle of the market below.

Most of the chateau was built in the 12th Century by English King Henry II, who captured the original fortress from a French count. (The film “The Lion in Winter” is set in 1183 Chinon.)

Henry died in the chateau in 1189 and was succeeded by his son Richard the Lion-Hearted. Richard died in Chinon in 1199, in the building that houses the museum. John, who succeeded Richard, lost most of England’s French lands, and Chinon returned to the French in 1205.

It was to this chateau that Joan of Arc came in 1429 with her plan to free France from the English. She left Chinon on April 20, 1429, at the head of an army that in three weeks took Orleans and in two months saw the dauphin, Charles, crowned in Reims and the English driven from most of their French domains.

Chinon has only a few small hotels. If you want to stay in the city during the market, make reservations early. The best hotels:

Hostellerie Gargantua, 73 Rue Haute-St.-Maurice, a restored mansion in the old town. Hotel France, 47 Place General de Gaulle, a few blocks outside the market area. Hotel Boule d’Or, 66 Quai Jeanne d’Arc, a charming river-side hotel with a restaurant in its courtyard. Rooms range from about $15 to $40 per person a day. Some meals may be included.

Chinon has an excellent municipal campground on the river bank directly across the bridge from the market.

With lodging at a premium on market weekend, if you have a car you may find it easier to stay in Tours, 29 miles north, or in Saumur, 18 miles south.

For more information, contact the French Government Tourist Office, 9401 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills 90012; (213) 272-2661.