18th Century Kitchen and Offices

After the grand vestibule, you enter a series of rooms constituting the annexes of the castle’s grand kitchen. The preceding rooms used to be offices, with one storing porcelain pieces, and another holding liquors and jams. The kitchen, the first and most extensive in the castle, has preserved a remarkable vegetable stove. The five-fire stove between the courtyard windows is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of the castle. Fed with wood through the openings below, this stove was used exclusively for simmering and reheating dishes. Unlike the cast iron stoves in the kitchen established in the 19th century, it did not allow for high-heat cooking (which is why another stove was installed nearby in the 19th-20th centuries). High-heat cooking in the 18th century and the early 19th century was done in the large fireplace on the left, as indicated by the hanging pot in the center. This fireplace was also used for spit-roasting large game pieces. On either side of the room, two doors lead to a former pantry on the right and a room for pastry preparation on the left. The latter, rare in the 18th century, also attests to the prestige of the place during that time. The double door in the center opens into a corridor providing access to the courtyard and two additional rooms. The room has been furnished with various elements that evoke the atmosphere of an aristocratic castle kitchen in the 18th century. The presence of a 19th-20th-century stove facing it confirms that this kitchen was not entirely abandoned for the kitchen in the Argenson wing. On the courtyard side, you will notice an interesting 18th-century washbasin, equipped with a tap in the mid-20th century.