Ebles de Chabannes and his Family History

Unfortunately the Chabannes la Palice chateau was no longer owned by Ebles de Chabannes' branch of the family by 1934. Nancie visited it many years later when Eleonore took her and Jack to Allier to see it. It is not open to the public, sadly but there are lots of photographs of it on the internet as it is an historic monument of France.
The Chabannes family played an important part in the history of France.The Chateau de la Palice was acquired in 1430 by Ebles' ancestor, Jacques de Chabannes I and in the sixteenth century, his grandson, Jacques II , Marechal of France, built the renaissance wing with its rose-coloured bricks. The chateau has its own gothic style chapel and the box-beams on the chateau ceilings are stunning, being inlaid with gold
The family have managed to hang on to one minor chateau, however. They still own Le Breveden, in Normandy. This is now a well-loved Castel-camping site, much frequented by English holidaymakers.
Nancie's charge, the little girl, Coulou, is now in her eighties and although the younger members of the family run the campsite, every Sunday evening she gives the guests a talk on the history of the chateau. She married an Englishman, Patrick Gurrey and they live nearby in the village of Faugernon.They live in a wonderful manor house which they rescued from dereliction. We visited not long after they had bought it and Patrick demonstrated that the previous occupants had been cows, by scraping a bit of cow-muck off the floor with a sword!
The stairs started about a metre off the ground and the only toilet was an outside privy with the traditional diamond-shaped hole in the door. We used to go out there with a storm lantern in a group and the rest would sing to save the embarrassment of whoever was in it!( Shades of 'I'm a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here'.)
Some years later Coulou and Patrick bought the ruined castle and accompanying farmstead, becoming Lords of the Manor. In 2013 Madame Gurrey was awarded La Medaille de L'Exemplarite , in recognition of her contribution to French culture and history.