ONE OF FRANCE'S FIRST DINING ROOMS
Digital video recording, comments and annotations copyright 2014 Lisa B. Falour, B.S., M.B.A.
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Construction on the Château de Champs-sur-Marne in Champs-sur-Marne, France (about 27 km East of Paris and accessible via public transportation) began in 1703. The architect Jean-Baptiste Bullet de Chamblain completed his project in four years. This was the maison de plaisance for a financier named Paul Poisson de Bourvallis, who was later arrested and lost the property. It went to the Princesse de Conti, who gave it to her cousin, the Duc de la Vallière. His son Louis César undertook extensive decorating projects within, including decorative works (chinoiséries) by Huet, and rented the château and its 600-hectare domain to the Marquise de Pompadour from 1757 until 1759. During the first French revolution, in the 18th c., the property was seized and its contents sold. Several more people owned it, and in 1895 a banker named Louis Cahen d'Anvers acquired it. As extensive restauration took place and many of the original contents were located and bought back, Henri Duchêne restored the famous formal gardens. The son of Louis, Charles, gave the property to France in 1935, and from 1939-1974, it was used to receive visiting foreign heads of state. It has been open to the public ever since, except for a six-year period recently in which it was closed for extensive restauration.
Though this clip is rather raw and is just me moving clumsily between the dining room (salle à manger), a cuboards area and a children's dining room toward the main hall, I wanted to show some aspects of this airy place, with its marble permanent buffet fixtures and fountains (I do not know how those fountains were used, what came out of them or how the plumbing was arranged). Until the 18th c. in France, there were no dining rooms per se. Banquet halls in ancient fortified castles maybe, yes, but in homes wealthy or modest, no rooms were done which were devoted to dining alone. In châteaux before the 18th c., tables might be set up as-needed, indoors or out, and were buffet-style usually. Diners would go and take food they wanted to eat and then go sit on a chair or couch or whatever and eat, then go back for more if they wanted it. Foods for meals might be set out where ever the master or mistress asked it to be placed. It was ad hoc in nature, I guess you could say.
Sitting in chairs at a table and being served (or passing dishes and serving yourselves) had not been done in France previously. The marble buffet fixtures shown here are also unusual in that they are fixed -- these are PERMANENT fixtures. Before, tables, sideboards and buffet furniture would be brought in as needed and as requested, and removed after dining.
Having a dining room just for children was also an innovation.
So, I am not sure if this is the FIRST dining room in France, but it's ONE OF THE FIRST. This, I do know.
In modest homes, such as one-room cottages or larger houses, there would certainly likely be a large, solid table if the resident could afford furniture. This would be multi-purpose in nature. Being massive in design and construction, rustic if you will, with no delicate legs and support structures, no fold-outs, et c., there would likely not be room for diners to actually put their legs under the table. I have seen an example of one of these tables, and have a clip up of it. Stools or long solid benches would be put next to it on either side if there was space to use both sides, but the diners would sit with their legs facing OUT. They would twist around and reach for their next bite, would turn to one side or another to converse with neighbors, and so on. Or, if on stools, they would sit sideways.
The admission price for the château is 7.50 euros, but the first Sunday of each month, it is free. There is no charge to visit the gardens. monuments-nationaux.fr has more information on this and other national monuments.
31, rue de Paris
77420 Champs-sur-Marne FRANCE
telephone +33(0)1 60 05 24 43