Discovering Treasures of Chateau de Barbentane

Had it not been getting dark and had my wife and I not needed a place to stay, we would probably have missed the Chateau de Barbentane.

We were exploring the Avignon area by car and stumbled upon Castel Mouisson, a memorable little hotel. It’s about 11 miles from Avignon on the outskirts of the Provencal town of Barbentane, which sits against the Montagnette hills.

The next morning, touring Barbentane on foot, we followed a sign down a narrow road from the main street and discovered Chateau de Barbentane, a 17th-Century mansion still occupied by the Marquis and Marquise of Barbentane and filled with a collection of Louis XIV and early Provencal furniture.

The Chateau de Barbentane miraculously escaped destruction during the French Revolution. Its owner at that time played the right kind of politics so that when the mob arrived from Avignon, the citizens of Barbentane kept them from plundering the building.

Italianate(cq) Gardens

The exterior, surrounded by lovely gardens in the Italian style, is simple, with the appropriate baroque touches befitting its construction in the early 16th Century and reconstruction in 1654.

In the 1740s, Pierre Thibault, the papal architect and a student of Pierre Mignard, redesigned the interior, taking out the baroque staircase and replacing it with a sweeping and graceful iron one, each part of the grill worked by hand.

Later, Pierre-Balthazar de Puget de Barbentane, the king’s ambassador to Tuscany between 1766 and 1784, had the remarkable floors installed, along with many of the furnishings.

The ambassador brought tons of marble from Carrara--by ship to Marseilles, by barge up the Rhone and from there by lumbering wagon to Barbentane. Combining it with the glowing Provencal stone, he made his chateau into a delightful and fascinating home, combining the best the 17th and 18th centuries had to offer.

Time Stands Still

Shiny black-and-white marble floors evoke the designs of Siena. The ceilings, although flat, trick the eye into believing they are arched. Then there are the superb Aubusson tapestries, the charming wallpaper and graceful furniture. At Barbentane, time seems to have stood still.

In the entrance hall, dominated by a door still hung with the original velvet draperies, a very rare Louis XV Bergere chair, covered with gray silk, stands out alongside a little painted rocking horse and a huge tapestry. That chair with its curved, high back is so unusual that it has been designated a national treasure.

There are two sturdy 17th-Century Dutch naval coffers featuring false-front locks and a hidden lock on the green top. A guide showed us the hidden compartment inside.

A dainty Cardinal desk holds a glass-covered candlestick with an ingenious device for lifting out the candle.

Upstairs, one salon follows another, each exquisitely furnished and decorated with elaborate gilded stucco.

Circulating Servants

Little doors that blend into the walls hide entrances to staircases that allowed the army of servants to circulate throughout the house unseen and unheard.

There are a variety of original mirrors and, in the Salon de Vestibule, marble statues from Italy. Several of the mirrors are decorated with little heads bearing Indian features, a bow to the Mayan culture that was just becoming known.

The grand salon is dominated by a marble fountain, a sparkling baccarat Venetian chandelier and two asymmetrical sofas covered in a green-and-rose design that had originally been made for the entrance hall.

Little chairs, painted black allegedly to escape Louis XVI’s tax on gilded furniture, provide a counterpoint to their Aubusson needlework covering telling the fables of Fontaine. The embroidery on these as well as on other chairs is in impeccable condition. Some of the designs are startlingly modern.

The library has a rare example of the type of chair called fumeuse , which allowed a man to smoke while straddling it, resting his arms on a molded piece of wood on the back. Paintings of the Barbentane family decorate the walls.

Chinese Porcelain

A chest of inlaid wood features birds that reflect in a mirror and seem to be flying. Much handsome silver and Chinese porcelain decorates the table in the dining room.

At the top of the stairs, the bedroom of La Comtesse de Vauban sparkles with red and green wallpaper that retains the freshness of the original colors. It was hand-painted and had been painstakingly put on the wall in small squares.

The room is dominated by a huge armoire de marriage with 50 drawers, and a canopied bed that seems extraordinarily short.

Women of that period tended to sleep in a half-sitting position so not to disturb their elaborate coiffure. They also avoided lying flat because that was considered the death position.

Barbentane has 20 rooms, including a little chapel, that are all different.

The present Marquis de Barbentane, who occupies the chateau’s top floor, is a descendant of the original builder. An engineer, he retired in 1973, devoting himself with his wife to the maintenance and preservation of Barbentane, which had been abandoned by his grandfather in 1960.

Sandstone Urns

The gardens surrounding Barbentane are beautifully kept in the way they were originally laid out in the mid-1700s. On the rear terrace of the chateau, on a long balustrade, are great sandstone urns decorated with a cornucopia of carved fruits and vegetables from the food-rich Montagnette region.

Chateau de Barbentane is open every day, including holidays, from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 6 p.m. Admission is about $2.50 U.S. per person.

Barbentane is a bustling little town with a 14th-Century atmosphere. If one feels energetic, climbing the steep cobblestoned path to the top is fun, and the view toward the Rhone river is exhilarating. There is a strong fragrance of pine from the forest that surrounds the old Anglica Tower.

The Castel Mouisson Hotel is a great base from which to tour the region. It is simple, comfortable and reasonable (we paid $40 for a double room with bath, including breakfast). There is a pool, and we had our morning coffee under an umbrella in the shady garden.

Among the many attractions adjacent to Barbentane are the old and photogenic 18th-Century Bretoul windmill, the peaceful Abbey of St. Michel de Frigolet, which dates to the 10th Century; Boulbon, a semi-deserted village of old stone houses clustered beneath a ruined fort; Tarascon, with its imposing castle that featured an elaborate flower show; Les Baux, with its famous (and expensive) Baumaniere restaurant and its strange chalk formation, and nearby Avignon.

The Roman Arch

At St. Remy, where Vincent Van Gogh once spent time in an institution, an elaborately carved Roman arch looms near extensive excavations of a Roman city.

Coming up from Aix-en-Provence, driving north from Cadenet into the Luberon range, we happened upon the castle at Lourmarin with its ancient tile floors, its large collection of period furniture and its library crammed with thousands of parchment documents going back to the 15th Century.

About 40 miles north of Orange, Grignan, the fortress castle where Madame de Sevigne spent time with her daughter and wrote some of her famous letters, provides history along with spectacular views of the region. Madame de Sevigne is buried in the church whose roof has become a vast terrace for the castle.

The backroads of Provence offer an ever-changing panorama of green hills broken by rocky outcroppings, houses built of a kind of golden stone that simply glows under the sun, and endless expanses of vineyards where some of the world’s most famous wines are grown.

Market Days

Distances between the various sites are not great, roads are good and the little towns each hold their own charm, particularly on market days when central squares overflow with little stands offering the colorful products of Provence, including mounds of olives, a huge variety of cheeses, special olive and walnut breads and plenty of fruit.

Americans may be surprised to find that pizza has caught on in the French hinterlands. Every market features a little truck equipped with an oven in which pizzas are baked.

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The area around Barbentane is not rich in great restaurants, though visitors can always find a simple bistro offering local food and good wine.

Castel Mouisson, just outside Barbentane, is a fine hotel complete with swimming pool and gardens. Rooms are about $35 U.S., double occupancy.

In Avignon, after touring the Pope’s palace, we had a typical Provencal meal at the Hiely restaurant, 5 Rue de la Republique, where a delicious grilled lamb, redolent of garlic and herbs, is served. Its Chateauneuf du Pape is a superb wine, and the desserts are equally memorable. So is the price of the dinner, which runs about $60 U.S. per person. The Hiely is closed on Tuesdays.

Another good restaurant serving light meals is La Fourchette II, on the Rue Racine. It’s very popular, and reservations are required. Surprisingly, it is closed on weekends.

In Arles, wandering down a side street (Rue Reattlu), we discovered L’Olivier, which not only served an excellent dinner but also offered a very pleasant atmosphere and friendly service at about $40 U.S. per person, service charge included. Closed Sundays.

For more information on travel to France, contact the French Government Tourist Office, 9454 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 303, Beverly Hills 90212, (213) 271-6665 or 272-2661.