At the Château de Maintenon (Eure-et-Loir), the start of the tourist season was given at the beginning of March. After the guided tours on the themes of “living in the castle” and “a ladies’ castle” – in connection with International Women’s Rights Day – the rest of the program is placed under the sign of the garden on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 March, discovering the estate’s remarkable trees, then the “Voyage en Orient” on March 22, 25 and 26.
“We wanted to showcase our large collection of chinoiseries, very fashionable in the 19th century, to decorate the most beautiful period residences,” enthuses Francine Loiseau, head of the monument administered by the Eure-et departmental council. – Dormouse. “There are, for example, two rooms which were wallpapered in the 18th century with extraordinary Chinese wallpaper. Out of fashion, they had been covered with layers of hangings that the former owner had before being rediscovered somewhat by chance at the end of the Second World War,” she recounts.
Maintain or even exceed the milestone of 89,000 visitors
This concentration of guided tours – a first – over a single month, is, according to Francine Loiseau, a unique opportunity “to visit the castle differently”. Next year, the same programming should be renewed: “We like this formula. We have a catalog of fifteen themes to feed a new season. »
The Château de Maintenon, which welcomed 89,000 visitors in 2022, hopes to at least maintain this level of attendance in 2023. To bring back the local public, those responsible for the monument have also imagined a series of ambitious events from the Easter weekend. The master chocolatier Jean-Luc Decluzeau will then build an ephemeral work in chocolate representing the aqueduct of Maintenon, the unfinished work of art crossing the Eure valley in the heart of the property. And, a historic fashion show, from the Renaissance to the 1950s, will take place on April 29 and 30. A rich program for the spring school holidays.