Blog

Madame Tussaud. Snippets of French history.

  Philippe Curtuis The woman we know as Madame Tussaud was born in 1761 in Strasbourg, eastern France, as Marie Grosholtz.  Her father had been killed in battle before she was born, and Marie grew up in the household of a Doctor Curtuis in Bern, Switzerland, having moved there when her mother got a job […]

Watching birds in France

Our part of France is a well-known twitchers’ paradise.  Migrating birds stop to feed on the nearby marshlands during the months of October and November, and is quite something to see.  Stay in our nice little chateau while you enjoy the sights. Maximum 12 people, full CH, log fires, easy access to all bird migration […]

Cap Verde

The coat of arms of Rochebonne

Today’s coat of arms is based on an old shield (donated to a museum in La Rochelle) found in the out-buildings at the Chateau in 1995.  It showed 3 castles and an inscription which appeared to read semper verum (always true), but it was badly damaged and difficult to make out. We also found several […]

The history of Rochebonne

For a holiday in our historical chateau go to www.seasidefrance.com The first record of Rochebonne dates to 1658, when the property was owned by one Jean d’Arquesson, lawyer to Louis XIV, the famous “Sun King” who built Versailles. However, the dove cote and the upper section of the staircase pre-dates this by 30 years or […]

France ! Did you know …? French flags.

Interested in France ? Book your holiday in the Charente Maritime. Go to www.seasidefrance.com or e-mail rochebonnemanagement@hotmail.com The French flag as we all know it, usually known as the Tricolor, came in to being in 1790 as a result of the French Revolution.  Previously the flag of France had been white – the royal one. […]

Did you know … ? The French language.

Interested in France ?  Book your holiday at www.seasidefrance.com or e-mail rochebonnemanagement@hotmail.co.uk Did you know that French has 100 000 words in its language, and English has over a million? Almost 40% of our English words, however, originated as French words, ie some 400 000 of them.  Logically, then, as there are only 100 000 […]

Chateau Cypres, France

Fancy a chateau all to yourselves for a week or two ?  Contact us at www.seasidefrance.com or e-mail rochebonnemanagement@hotmail.co.uk The other day somebody asked me why the property is called Les Cypres in my book, when its real name is Rochebonne. The reason is quite simple – I didn’t want people to read my book […]

100 things to do and see in our part of France.

Staying (or thinking of staying) in one of our properties ? Summer and winter alike there is plenty to do and see in the Charente Maritime.  Property details on www.seasidefrance.com. Within half an hour’s drive here are 100 possibilities, in no particular order:- golf at Royan. St Laurent and Saintes water parks on the island […]

Did you know … ? The French baguette.

The baguette and the croissant, which we all associate with France, is not French at all but Austrian.  Both were introduced to France by one August Zang, from Vienna, in the nineteenth century.  August Zang opened a baker in Paris and sold Viennoiseries :  the quintessentially French baguette and croissant are, in fact, copies of […]