Château de Mercuès****, Mercuès, Cahors (Quercy) - France

A little history of the château:

Legend has it that on this place the Romans had erected a temple to the God Mercury. With the arrival of Christianity, a church or chapel took its place under the influence of Saint Genulphe, the first Bishop of Cahors. Then around 636 AD, Saint Didier, Minister of Finance under Clotaire 2nd and appointed Bishop of Cahors, it was fortified and a new chapel and dungeon was added. Paradise and hell were thus connected in the same place! From that time on for about 1,200 years the château was the summer home of the Bishop of Cahors.

In 1212, the château was modified to defend the city of Cahors by controlling the river "highway" below, the same reason most of the châteaux were erected on the rivers of this region. At the start of the 100 years war, the château was French held. But in 1360, the French gave it up to the British, who had been French and spoke French in court so communication was not a problem. A few years later, the British were driven out of Cahors, but held onto Mercuès. Perhaps they liked the wine even though it was distinctly different from the wine of the Bordeaux region which they called "Claret" and still import assiduously. They fought hard for the château as did the French with the château changing hands numerous times. We did not experience any visitations of armor clanking ghosts, but if ever there was a more natural place for them, it would be Mercuès.

It was not until 1427 that the then Bishop regained ownership by trading 1,600 golden sheep and a piece of damask that the château stayed in steady hands. At least until 1550 when the Catholic/Protestant wars began. Carnage seems a preoccupation over its history. The château was invaded and completely burned, at least that which would burn.

In 1627, Bishop Pierre Habert put the château back together again by recruiting 800 unemployed from Cahors who breathed country air and escaped the plague and could feed their families. From that time until the French revolution, it became a country residence for the stream of Bishops from Cahors. the terraces, orchards and gardens date from that time. They also planted a vineyard since several Kings of France recognized the quality of the hillside grown wines. So the planks you walk may be that old but probably not. Certainly the stone floors are and the terra cotta tiles were being introduced for flooring about this time period. But wood was generally used in sections just under the chairs so they could be removed for the floor washings. Plank floors were probably introduced just a little later and reserved for the upper floors. But since parquet flooring either in panels or in Hungarian Point was just being introduced at about this time and the parquet panels were 5 to 6 feet long, it is doubtful that the parquet in the château dates from that early time. The parquet probably was added in the 18th century. Paris always led the way fashion wise and they were only introducing square parquet in the late 17th century.

So your tactile experience in the château will cover several centuries of development and interior design styles that trickled out from Paris to the country subject to new techniques and technologies developed by craftsmen that often started with innovations installed in palaces and became fashionable. The Bishops of Cahors had become important people in France, not just simple country churchmen. They wielded power at court. So probably, they brought with them quite quickly the fashions from Paris and the craftsmen that created them.

Bits were added also over time. The five story tower was added in 1741.

So much did they have the attention of the King that Francois 1st had a wine grower from the Quercy region to plant a royal vine at Fontainebleau. One wonders how it fared in a different soil and climate.

Fortunately the revolution in 1789 did not reduce the château to a ruin again but the furniture was sold off. The stature of the bishops had taken a bit of a beating and they neglected the château after the revolution. They eventually sold it off in 1861 when it was bought by His Grace Grimardius who obviously loved the old place and further expanded and embellished it.

In 1904, for the first time, the château fell into private hands with its purchase by Professor Jean Louis Faure. He lived in it as the family residence through World War II. At his death, his two daughters decided to turn it into a hotel. It was just a few years later with the advent of the automobile, paved highway routes and quicker travel times, that the Relais et Châteaux group of hotels was created and upscale motorists needed high end lodgings in which to eat and sleep on their travels. Château de Mercuès was one of the very first to join the group.

M. Georges Hereil purchased the château in 1966 and made major improvements and additions like the swimming pool and managed to install the very discreet elevator that carries you and your luggage to any one of the 4 floors. At his death in 1980, the château again experienced neglect, but only for a short few year. In 1983, M. George Vigouroux, an extremely vigorous man, filled with imagination and energy, bought the château and breathed new life into it. But since he was doing CPR to the Cahors wine industry at the same time, it took a bit of time to bring the old pile of stone up to snuff. We were there; we know. It was not until he wisely brought in M. Bernard Denègre as general manager in 1992 that the renovation program really took off. He finished the renovations and modernizations and brought in Chef Phillipe Combet to bring the cuisine into line with the high end hotel he had established in concert with owner M. Vigouroux. None of it made any easier by having to have every change, repair, modification go through the planning and approval process of the "Architects en Chef des Monuments Historiques et Bâtiments de France" who can make restoring old historic buildings in France a night mare and cost over-runs out of site. Their intentions are good but require people of enormous patience and persistence to bring these very special buildings back to good repair and at the same time become functional in the 21st century.

So even a one night stay in Château de Mercuès has you in total contact with a featured player, albeit of stone, in almost 2 thousand years of living history, of battles, death and rebirth. Who trod those same worn steps that lead you to your room? The wine that washes down the delectable lamb is the descendant of that imbibed by the kings of France. There were savage armies crossing the same river you see from your bedroom window. The guard tower that juts out over the cliff face with the incredible view of river and valley gave the first warning of attack, may even have provided the leverage to pour the boiling oil on the heads below. Happily, all is peaceful today. In fact the very tranquillity that is so restorative make the bloody past difficult to accept. The ramparts are a reminder of periods of militant past even as Bishops prayed at the alter in the tiny chapel.