JOIE DE VIVRE


COLUMN


The intrepid châtelaine


Erin Choa adopts a tree-planting tradition at the château, adding new saplings to towering conifers


I


fi nd that château life has a defi ned seasonality for certain tasks, and winter is far from being devoid of


activity. We still host festive events and run our holiday cottages for guests escaping for cosy countryside winter stays beside the log fi res. We also keep busy (and warm!) by continuing our laborious estate maintenance from heaving logs and chopping fi rewood to unblocking drainage systems and making progress on the château restoration. Winter is also the time of


year when we plant new trees, replacing those that have either been lost to storms, old age or heatwaves but also the exciting part – expanding what was once a 19th-century arboretum. Some 160 years ago, our


château ancestors, like many gentry who owned grand homes of the time, followed la mode for planting collections of exotic trees. The château’s park was already renowned for ancient and grand oaks but planting trees not native to France was a status symbol of the elite and a demonstration of


There’s always a need for logs! We also gift each other trees


for special occasions from birthdays to anniversaries and hope that each year we can continue to add to the collection: a new tree with a new story to tell that takes you on an unexpected voyage. While they are only young


While their winter holiday guests relax by festive fi resides, Erin and Jean-Baptiste are hard at work outside


wealth, rather like the 19th- century equivalent of owning a luxury sports car. We are fortunate to have two grand cedar of Lebanons that grace our skyline, as well as other unusual conifers within our park, although sadly, few of the great oaks remain. Since we arrived at Château


Planting slender saplings


de Bourneau, we have always wanted to continue this tree- planting tradition to add to the collection. Today, adding to the arboretum is less about status and more about the joy and beauty of replanting trees that


110 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: November/December 2023


we’ve lost while also making additions to the collection that befi ts the history and storytelling of the estate. We have selected trees from


all over the world to join the arboretum: Liquidambars from central America, Gingko bilobas from China, a Canadian maple, a Tasmanian Eucalyptus and a Californian Redwood, digging hole after hole of frozen earth and hoping that the returning warmth of a French spring will please them, and that these exotic foreigners will thrive here in rich Vendéen soil.


saplings, it is still a joy to watch them grow and fl ourish as they add to the charm and landscape of the park. And although we will not see the Redwood’s impressive grandeur in our lifetime, I have always loved the old proverb that society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit. As guardians of Château de Bourneau for this generation, it feels only fi tting that we will hopefully leave a legacy of trees for the next. ■


London-born hospital doctor Erin Choa is the 6th châtelaine of Château de Bourneau, where she lives with her French fi ancé Jean-Baptiste and bossy cat HRH Oscar. She blogs about their château-life on Instagram @theintrepidchatelaine @chateaudebourneau


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148