Then, from the balcony, visitors discover the view over the magnificent French gardens; they go back in time on entering the Louis XIII room with its painted beams. On the lintel of the imposing stone fireplace there is the Courbon family motto : “Fide – Fidelitate – Fortitudine” (by faith, fidelity and courage).

Next come two beautiful rooms decorated in the Charentais style :
• First the Saintongeaise kitchen in the center of which there is a beautiful oak table on which stands a pestle and mortar (for grinding salt). On the dressers, with sturdy metal hinges, there is crockery designed in Saintes and Marans (the school of La Rochelle), a dough trough for kneading bread and a lovely collection of copper pans.
• Secondly the “chambre paysanne” (peasant bedroom) which is approached via a spiral staircase. In it, there are two baldaquin beds covered in flame material. The mats known as “à lirette” and the peasant woman’s head-dress known as “quichenotte” bear witness to the fact that they are situated in the Charente Maritime.

The visit comes to an end in the XVIII° century vestibule. The guide leaves the visitor in the vaulted rooms at the bottom of the chateau, the feudal part, where he is free to see the exhibitions .

Hall under Minerve’s protection, the wisdom goddess