Close to Tonnerre are two of the finest, though least-known and least-visited, châteaux in France: Ancy-le-Franc and Tanlay. The former has the edge for architectural purity, the latter for romantic appeal. There's no longer any public transport from Tonnerre, but if you turn up at the gare SNCF 24 hours in advance you can book a taxi for the same price per kilometre as for a train journey of equivalent length.The Château d'Ancy-le-Franc, 25km from Tonnerre, was built in the mid-sixteenth century for the brother-in-law of the notorious Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henri II (guided tours daily except Mon: April–Oct hourly at 10.30am, 11.30am & 2–4pm; June–Aug also 5pm; €6; www.chateau-ancy.com). More Italian than French, with its textbook classical countenance, it is the only accepted work of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, one of the most important architectural theorists of the Renaissance, who was brought to France in 1540 by François I to work on his palace at Fontainebleau. The exterior is rather austere and forbidding, but the inner courtyard is an utterly refined embodiment of the principles of classical architecture. Some of the apartments are sumptuous, decorated by the Italian artists Primaticcio and Niccolò dell'Abbate, who also worked at Fontainebleau. The most impressive rooms are La Chambre des Arts, with medallions by Primaticcio, and La Galerie des Sacrifices, with monumental battle scenes in monochrome by Abbate. Ancy has two small hotels, the modernized Hostellerie du Centre, 34 Grande-Rue (tel 03.86.75.15.11, www.diaphora.com/hostellerieducentre; €40–55; good restaurant from €15), which has a tiny indoor swimming pool, and the simpler Hôtel de la Poste, 79 Grande-Rue (tel 03.86.75.11.08; €30–40; closed Wed). The Château de Tanlay (guided tours daily except Tues: April to mid-Nov hourly 9.30–11.30am, every 45min 2.15–5.15pm; €7), 8km from Tonnerre, is by contrast much more French and full of fantaisie. It's only slightly later in date, about 1559, but those extra few years were enough for the purer Italian influences visible in Ancy to have become Frenchified. It also feels much more feudal, the village crouching humbly at its gate and its approach road – a long straight tree-lined avenue – like a private drive, tying down the land on either side, proclaiming ownership. Encircling the Château are water-filled moats, and a wooded hill provides an effective backdrop. Standing guard over the entrance to the first grassy courtyard is the grand lodge, and it's here that you enter the Château proper across a stone drawbridge. Domed and lanterned turrets terminate the wings of the cour d'honneur, urns line the ridge of the roof, from whose slates project carved and pedimented dormers. The white stone and round medieval towers, leftovers from the original fortress, add to the irregularity and charm. Inside, the most remarkable, if overpowering, room is the Grande Galerie, entirely covered by monochrome trompe-l'oecil frescoes.
Pages in section ‘Ancy-le-Franc’: Châtillon-sur-Seine.
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