A Parisian passing through, a tourangeau of roots, you can still guess it not far from Tours, at the Château de Saché, its multiple refuge.
Balzac in Saché
Balzac led a hectic and expensive life in Paris!
When he couldn't take it anymore, and when his creditors were really too pressing, he was going to stay at the castle of Saché, which he had known through his parents. The Margonne, the local castellans, were part of their visit.
He made about ten more or less extended stays in the heart of the Indre Valley, which was to become the setting for one of his novels "Le lys dans la vallée".
Balzac convict
During his stays in Saché, he worked like a convict.
It must also be said that the "La comédie humaine" ensemble gathers ninety works, where we find nearly 2500 characters who live there, who die there, who interact with each other, and who even, for some, reappear in several books !
This single part of his work is truly monumental, and one can well imagine the amount of work it represents.
Also, in Saché, where he wrote, among other things, a dozen works of "La comédie humaine", he did not hesitate to get up at two in the morning, then work more than 15 hours without stopping, and this several days in a row!
He said of him that he was a "galleyer of pen and ink"!
Balzac bon vivant
When he worked tirelessly in this way, it is reported that he was satisfied with toasted bread and soft-boiled eggs, which is not the height of debauchery!
But he didn't lead this kind of life all the time.
Thus, he would take very long walks in the woods of the estate, among the hundred-year-old oaks, and make some visits to the castellans in the surrounding area. He was also distracted by parts of "whist" with Jean Margonne, owner of the castle.
And then, as a great lover of French gastronomy, he did not forget to honour Touraine's cuisine and Vouvray wine....
The Balzac Museum
Proof of Balzac's work's roots in French culture, the museum inside the Château de Saché receives about 20,000 visitors per year!
It contains about 2300 pieces, sculptures (including three originals by Rodin), paintings, old editions or manuscripts, including three moving collections of proofs corrected for "Le lys dans la vallée".
Balzac, we also see him living, in his room whose view he enjoyed, at his desk....
Visitors can also literally stroll through "Balzac's" work thanks to the literary reconstruction, very real, of the imaginary interiors of the Château de Clochegourde, the boudoir of the heroine of "La peau de chagrin", the office of the lawyer of "Colonel Chabert"...
In short, an enriching and calm visit, which can be extended by contemplating the Indre Valley to which the two-hectare wooded park invites.
Musée Balzac
Château de Saché
Rue du Château
37190 Saché
Tél. : 02 47 26 86 50
museebalzac@departement-touraine.fr
*** Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
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