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Château Lumiere, France
Visited with: PG UE, Nick Whitworth and Scott Chadwick.
Visit date: November 2014
Please Note: Entry is always through an open access point and not by forcing our way in….. We are explorers, not vandals.
History
Château Lumiere was built in the early 1900’s by a wealthy Swiss tobacco tycoon. The building was sold in the 1950’s after the death of the owner and since then the Château has been sold several times but sadly is now stood abandoned. The exact date of abandonment I do not know but I have read in a few places that it could have been in the 1980’s.
Château Lumiere has a Historical Protection order, however, the future of this beautiful building is uncertain.
My Visit
Château Lumiere was the main reason for this tour due to the fact that we tried to visit here back in September when we was last in France, sadly we did not make it due to time restrictions, So, it only felt right that we made Lumiere the first stop this time around.
We arrived early whilst it was still dark outside and within a couple of minutes we was inside, the first thing we realised was that we would be here for some time before any pictures would be taken…. It was pitch black inside!
Slowly and I mean slowly the light started to filter in through the huge skylight but it was still going to take some time for the ground floor to have enough daylight for photos. After about an hour of waiting some of the lads headed up to the top floor where the light situation was better whilst I decided to wait it out as I really wanted the skylight shot. I set up the camera on the carpet and waited…..
About 20 minutes and a cold backside later I took the shot, here is the result.
With the lads working their way down from the top floor I had the ground floor to myself, so I started to grab a few photos of this beautiful entrance hall.
Before leaving the ground floor I headed off into a few of the side rooms to see what I could find. There are lots of small rooms some with a few features such as old fireplaces but not much else, the best room on this floor however has to be the the 'wood' room.
Now it was time to head up to the next level, however I did not get far before I stopped to take another photo!
After taking the above photo I was greeted by the following view….
I caught myself thinking ‘This place is stunning’ over and over again in my head. I just hope my photos are giving you the same feeling.
Here are a few more photos from this floor. I still get exited when I look at them, I just wish I could have seen how this place looked and felt when occupied.
Here are a couple of photos from the side rooms on this level. I would have to say that the first photo would have been the master bathroom as it was by far the more elegant within the château with marble floors and walls.
Now I have no idea what this room was used for, however it did have a door directly to the bathroom on the left wall just out of shot so a good guess would have to a bedroom. Just look at the view they had from the doors in the morning when they woke up and opened them!
So with this floor covered it was time to head up to the top floor.
So, what can I say about the top floor, well, I can honestly say that it is definitely not as grand as the others as you will see but, it does hold some beauty & it does have some awesome views when looking down upon the lower floors.
Here is one of the bathrooms on this floor and as you can see it is no were near as grand as the bathroom on the lower floor.
As you can see in some of the above images the skylight is huge and I really wanted to see if I could get up into the loft space to take a closer look. Luckily it did not take long to locate the way up which was a small wooden staircase hidden behind a door. After going up the stairs I emerged into the loft space which had a few pieces of machinery lying around on the floor plus a few other bits and pieces but nothing of major interest. The Skylight is, as you would imagine splat bang in the centre of the main loft space and this is how it looked.
As you can see the glass on the floor of the skylight is covered in dust which would have not been the case when the château was occupied and would have allowed a lot more light to spill inside.
After a quick look around the loft I decided to head back down to see how everyone was getting on. After slowly working my way down making sure to not walk out in front of someone taking a photo I found the group in the main entrance hall. Everyone was happy with the images they had taken and we agreed it was time to make a move to the next location. We said farewell to Château Lumiere and made our exit.
More images available on flickr
The images above are just a small selection of the images I have edited. I will be adding lots more photos of Château Lumiere on my Flickr page which can be found here, https://www.flickr.com/photos/119757413@N07/
Final thoughts
After waiting months to see Lumiere after we did not manage to get here back in September I do have to say it was worth the wait. When the light finally worked it's way in through the huge skylight the grandeur of this place started to show. Marble floors and columns, beautiful staircases, carvings, stunning metal work, everywhere you look there is beauty to be seen. Château Lumiere has rocketed to the top of my list for EU locations, I absolutely loved my time here.
With all that said however, it is a shame to see Lumiere sat empty and even worse if it was to be torn down, lets hope that never happens and someone comes along and re-occupies this stunning château.
To read more location reports of the places we visited on the tour please click here, http://www.alanduggan-photography.co.uk/tag/tournov2014/
Thanks for reading,
Dugie
Visited with: PG UE, Nick Whitworth and Scott Chadwick.
Visit date: November 2014
Please Note: Entry is always through an open access point and not by forcing our way in….. We are explorers, not vandals.
History
Château Lumiere was built in the early 1900’s by a wealthy Swiss tobacco tycoon. The building was sold in the 1950’s after the death of the owner and since then the Château has been sold several times but sadly is now stood abandoned. The exact date of abandonment I do not know but I have read in a few places that it could have been in the 1980’s.
Château Lumiere has a Historical Protection order, however, the future of this beautiful building is uncertain.
My Visit
Château Lumiere was the main reason for this tour due to the fact that we tried to visit here back in September when we was last in France, sadly we did not make it due to time restrictions, So, it only felt right that we made Lumiere the first stop this time around.
We arrived early whilst it was still dark outside and within a couple of minutes we was inside, the first thing we realised was that we would be here for some time before any pictures would be taken…. It was pitch black inside!
Slowly and I mean slowly the light started to filter in through the huge skylight but it was still going to take some time for the ground floor to have enough daylight for photos. After about an hour of waiting some of the lads headed up to the top floor where the light situation was better whilst I decided to wait it out as I really wanted the skylight shot. I set up the camera on the carpet and waited…..
About 20 minutes and a cold backside later I took the shot, here is the result.
With the lads working their way down from the top floor I had the ground floor to myself, so I started to grab a few photos of this beautiful entrance hall.
Before leaving the ground floor I headed off into a few of the side rooms to see what I could find. There are lots of small rooms some with a few features such as old fireplaces but not much else, the best room on this floor however has to be the the 'wood' room.
Now it was time to head up to the next level, however I did not get far before I stopped to take another photo!
After taking the above photo I was greeted by the following view….
I caught myself thinking ‘This place is stunning’ over and over again in my head. I just hope my photos are giving you the same feeling.
Here are a few more photos from this floor. I still get exited when I look at them, I just wish I could have seen how this place looked and felt when occupied.
Here are a couple of photos from the side rooms on this level. I would have to say that the first photo would have been the master bathroom as it was by far the more elegant within the château with marble floors and walls.
Now I have no idea what this room was used for, however it did have a door directly to the bathroom on the left wall just out of shot so a good guess would have to a bedroom. Just look at the view they had from the doors in the morning when they woke up and opened them!
So with this floor covered it was time to head up to the top floor.
So, what can I say about the top floor, well, I can honestly say that it is definitely not as grand as the others as you will see but, it does hold some beauty & it does have some awesome views when looking down upon the lower floors.
Here is one of the bathrooms on this floor and as you can see it is no were near as grand as the bathroom on the lower floor.
As you can see in some of the above images the skylight is huge and I really wanted to see if I could get up into the loft space to take a closer look. Luckily it did not take long to locate the way up which was a small wooden staircase hidden behind a door. After going up the stairs I emerged into the loft space which had a few pieces of machinery lying around on the floor plus a few other bits and pieces but nothing of major interest. The Skylight is, as you would imagine splat bang in the centre of the main loft space and this is how it looked.
As you can see the glass on the floor of the skylight is covered in dust which would have not been the case when the château was occupied and would have allowed a lot more light to spill inside.
After a quick look around the loft I decided to head back down to see how everyone was getting on. After slowly working my way down making sure to not walk out in front of someone taking a photo I found the group in the main entrance hall. Everyone was happy with the images they had taken and we agreed it was time to make a move to the next location. We said farewell to Château Lumiere and made our exit.
More images available on flickr
The images above are just a small selection of the images I have edited. I will be adding lots more photos of Château Lumiere on my Flickr page which can be found here, https://www.flickr.com/photos/119757413@N07/
Final thoughts
After waiting months to see Lumiere after we did not manage to get here back in September I do have to say it was worth the wait. When the light finally worked it's way in through the huge skylight the grandeur of this place started to show. Marble floors and columns, beautiful staircases, carvings, stunning metal work, everywhere you look there is beauty to be seen. Château Lumiere has rocketed to the top of my list for EU locations, I absolutely loved my time here.
With all that said however, it is a shame to see Lumiere sat empty and even worse if it was to be torn down, lets hope that never happens and someone comes along and re-occupies this stunning château.
To read more location reports of the places we visited on the tour please click here, http://www.alanduggan-photography.co.uk/tag/tournov2014/
Thanks for reading,
Dugie
