Château Vincennes and the Parc Floral

Last month I visited, but didn't go inside, the Château Vincennes.  So I went back today with Kevin to see the interior.  I know we've been to a lot of châteaux lately, but this one is different -- much more castle-y than the ones in the Loire Valley.  Construction of the keep began at the start of the Hundred Years' War and was completed around 1370 by king Charles V.

At the time it was built the only access to the interior of the tower used to be by footbridge to the second level.  Those entryways on the ground floor were added much later.

The keep is a square tower six floors high.  The footbridge leads into the council room, where the king would meet with his advisers.

The construction of the interior made use of archways that rest on a single central column, allowing each room to be spacious. 

Unlike the manors in the Loire Valley, this castle is currently unfurnished.  In the council room there was a short video about the life and times of Charles V, also called Charles the Wise.  He was very educated for a medieval king, and acquired an extensive library with many French translations of ancient manuscripts.  He was also a very pious man, and attended mass several times daily.

On the floor above are the king's apartments.  During Charles's time decorative wooden paneling was hung as insulation on the stone walls and ceilings; you can see the remains of the iron hooks used to hold the paneling in place.

This is the enormous fireplace in the king's bedchamber.

In the 18th century, the château was abandoned as a residence and was eventually used as a prison.  The Marquis de Sade was imprisoned here in a rather spacious cell, and the philosopher Denis Diderot was also incarcerated here.  There is still grafitti etched into the walls, some of it from that time period.  We admired the handwriting in this section...just look at the neat penmanship!

An interpretive center has scale models of the château.  Here is the layout of the entire compound, although we only were allowed into the keep (top, center) and the chapel (bottom, center).

We also took a look inside the nearby Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes.  There weren't any pews or benches inside and most of the windows were clear, giving it a very open and spacious feel.

The decoration was pretty simple for a gothic church, and some of the panes from the few stained glass windows in the nave were missing.

The floor was covered with this odd art installation, which I think had to do with animals in the middle ages.

But really, is it art to take a bunch of plastic birds and line them up on the floor?  They weren't even creatively arranged; I imagine any kid could've set these up.

Speaking of kids, the Parc Floral was right across the street from the château and it was a hive of activity at 3pm on a Friday afternoon.  There were hundreds of small children boisterously playing in the park's various playgrounds.

Someone had hung these interesting leaf wreaths from the trees.

These sunflowers were so pretty.

And the waterlily garden was also very peaceful.