Men Of Their Word

Alison Hughes visits the ‘garden of France’ on the trail of three classic French writers

- Alison Hughes

Rabelais, Ronsard, Balzac et moi: the words on the T-shirt in the gift shop surprised me. So I was not the first person to put these three exceptional writers together. On reflection, it is perhaps not so surprising as, even though 300 years separate the birth of Rabelais and the birth of Balzac, all three writers are linked by the love of their native Touraine which drew them back time and time again. It was an inspiration for their writing and also a refuge for the soul, a restorative and a foil to the social whirl of life in Paris.

The fertile valley of the Loire, with its orchards, vineyards, forests, and rivers, is often referred to as the ‘garden of France’, a term first coined by Rabelais. This is douce France, the heart of the country, where kings chose to build their châteaux, and where, in the 16th century, everything flourished.

François Rabelais

François Rabelais was born in a small farmhouse in a beautiful spot on a hillside near Chinon. The exact date is not known, but it was probably 1494; appropriately, the year that is designated as the beginning of the Renaissance in France. Rabelais’ father was a lawyer and the family home was in Rue de la Lamproye in Chinon, but Rabelais’ mother chose to give birth to her children in the more peaceful surroundings of La Devinière in Seuilly.

François spent the first few years of his life here and it made a lasting impression on him. His birthplace becomes the residence of one of his main characters and the château spied across the valley is Coudray-Montpensier which features in his stories, as does the nearby Abbey of Seuilly.