 Here's great news for 2009: from now on it will be possible to visit the Château de Pupetières during the summer, as announced by its owner, Aymar de Virieu. Built in the 11th century, the castle was occupied by his family until it was destroyed during the French revolution. Forced to take refuge with their cousins in Coppet, near Geneva, the de Virieu family later came back to this country. They entrusted the reconstruction of their home to Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, to whom we also owe the restoration of Notre-Dame-de-Paris.
For this architect, who was also the leader of the "neomedieval" movement of the end of the 19th century, "restoring a building doesn't mean maintaining it, it means restoring it in a state of completeness which may never have existed at a given moment". Pupetières thus acquired its exceedingly distinctive lines: a hexagonal "forebody" decorated with a balustrade and glazed tortoiseshell tiles. A gothic silhouette which stands out from the bare, craggy countryside: Alphonse de Lamartine, a friend of the de Virieu family, found it a source of inspiration to write his celebrated poem, Le vallon. Staying several summers in a row in a house near the chateau, the painter Johan Barthold Jongkind sketched these landscapes, leaving behind him a whole series of watercolours.
In 2008, it's Agatha Christie in person who has invited herself to the chateau with the new adventures of Prudence and Belisaire Beresford, played by Catherine Frot and André Dussolier. After "Mon petit doigt m'a dit", ("My Little Finger Told Me") Pascal Thomas took as his sets the living rooms of Pupetières to film certain scenes of "Le crime est notre affaire" ("Crime is our business"). No need for special sets in this building where "everything is the set", carved woodwork and tapestries with rustic scenes, fleurs de lys and coats of arms. An interior to discover from July 2009 and to the movies, all those who cannot wait!
Contact et informations :
Château de Pupetières, Châbons
Renseignements: Mairie de Châbons
9 rue de l'Eglise
F-38690 Châbons
Tél + 33 (0)476 65 00 10
Photo: Château de Pupetières
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