{"id":18832,"date":"2021-07-20T11:31:35","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T09:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musee-balzac.fr\/explore-the-museum\/balzac-au-chateau-de-sache\/"},"modified":"2022-01-21T11:49:08","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T09:49:08","slug":"balzac-in-sache","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.musee-balzac.fr\/en\/explore-the-museum\/balzac-in-sache\/","title":{"rendered":"Balzac in Sach\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/p>\n

Portrait of Balzac<\/em>, by Eug\u00e8ne Chiquet, 1899, based on Achille Dev\u00e9ria (1825), Balzac Museum collection.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Sach\u00e9, the refuge<\/h2>\n

Honor\u00e9 de Balzac was born in Tours in 1799 and moved to Paris when he was 14. The novelist stayed in Sach\u00e9 a dozen times between 1825 and 1848. The site was more than a refuge from his creditors, it was also a \"monastery\" where he could write and recharge his batteries in the peace and quiet. The author suffered from heart and lung issues in the 1830s.\u00a0 His doctor, Dr. Nacquart, prescribed fresh air in his homeland to recover from his hectic Paris schedule. Balzac's stays in Sach\u00e9 were peppered with long walks in the century-old woods on the estate, trips to visit local ch\u00e2teau owners and games of whist and backgammon with the owner Jean Margonne.<\/p>\n

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1823<\/div>\n

Balzac stayed in Tours and Vouvray in Henry-Joseph de Savary's house, Jean Margonne's father-in-law, in the summer of 1823. He discussed going to Sach\u00e9 in a letter to his sister Laure Surville: \"I shall go to Sach\u00e9\u00a0and see you soon in Ch[amp]rosay\u00a0because, aside from the Azur air and sky, the people of Touraine\u00a0are weak and feeble\" (Honor\u00e9 de Balzac, Letter to Laure Surville<\/em>,\u00a0Tours, summer 1823).<\/p>\n

1825<\/h2>\n

In autumn 1825, Balzac returned to Touraine with his mother and younger brother, Henri, presumed to be Jean Margonne's son. Balzac wrote to the Duchess of\u00a0Abrant\u00e8s from Sach\u00e9 of his sadness that she couldn't be there.<\/p>\n

1830<\/h2>\n

Whilst Balzac worked tirelessly with different Paris newspapers, he took time off to relax in Touraine with his lover Mrs de Berny in summer 1830. He rented La Grenadi\u00e8re, a house in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire which they used as a base to visit Le Croisic and Gu\u00e9rande. They stayed for two months. Balzac returned to Paris in September. He wasn't in Paris for the July Revolution, he was probably on the way to Sach\u00e9: \"I assure you that I consider myself a very brave man to confess to travelling on the banks of the Indre during our glory days\" (Honor\u00e9 de Balzac, \"Letter about Paris\",\u00a0published in Le Voleur<\/em>, September 30th 1830).<\/p>\n

1831<\/h2>\n

Balzac published the first edition of\u00a0The Magic Skin<\/em> in August 1931. Back in Tours, Jean Margonne wrote to Balzac saying how hard it was to get hold of the novel whose success he had read about in the papers. And although he was eager to read it in the countryside, he was more looking forward to the conservation he hoped to have with the writer in September. In the end, Balzac had an extended break at Ch\u00e2teau de Sach\u00e9 between late October and mid-December 1831. Letters between his publishers and friends detail how hard he worked on Master Corn\u00e9lius <\/em>and\u00a0Droll Stories<\/em>:\u00a0\"I am living under the hardest form of despotism: self-inflicted despotism. I work day and night. I\u00a0have come\u00a0to\u00a0take refuge here\u00a0in the\u00a0depths\u00a0of a ch\u00e2teau,\u00a0like\u00a0in a\u00a0monastery.\" (Honor\u00e9 de Balzac, Letter to Zulma Carraud<\/em>,\u00a0Sach\u00e9, November 1st 1831)<\/p>\n

1832<\/h2>\n

Balzac returned to Sach\u00e9 on June 8th 1832 and spent over a month here. From his little second floor bedroom, he gave his mother instructions so she could take care of his business in Paris, particularly settling his financial issues... Balzac set to work on Louis Lambert<\/em> at a frenzied pace. But he also used his time in Sach\u00e9 to plan his wedding to a rich local widow, Baroness Deurbroucq. Balzac left Sach\u00e9 on July 16th 1832 and walked to Tours in the heat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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1834<\/h2>\n

In September 1834, after publishing The Quest of the Absolute<\/em>, Dr. Nacquart found Balzac in such a sorry state that he prescribed fresh air in his homeland. So Balzac spent weeks in Sach\u00e9 where he began work on\u00a0Father Goriot<\/em>, hoped to finish\u00a0S\u00e9raph\u00eeta\u00a0<\/em>and corrected proofs of\u00a0C\u00e9sar Birotteau<\/em>.<\/p>\n

1836<\/h2>\n

Balzac fled to the Indre Valley in June 1836 soon after winning his trial against Buloz for The Lily of the Valley<\/em>. Although Balzac used his stay here to rest, he began writing the first part of Lost Illusions<\/em> in Sach\u00e9 and worked for up to 15 hours a day:\u00a0\"Touraine revived me so much so that on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday I created the\u00a0Lost Illusions<\/em> and wrote the first four pages of it.\" (Honor\u00e9 de Balzac, Letter to \u00c9mile Regnault<\/em>,\u00a0Sach\u00e9, June 27th 1836).<\/p>\n

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1837<\/h2>\n

After months in Italy, Balzac spent a fortnight in late August in Sach\u00e9 to recover from a chest inflammation. Balzac planned to retreat to Touraine in a little house on the Cher or Loire coast to avoid ever having to serve in the National Guard.<\/p>\n

1846<\/h2>\n

In early June, Balzac caught the train to reach Touraine quickly as he wanted to buy a house for him and Mrs Hanska. He spent a few days with Jean Margonne in Sach\u00e9 who, between backgammon games, advised him to buy Ch\u00e2teau de Moncontour in Vouvray. Balzac dropped his plans to buy it two months later.<\/p>\n

1848<\/h2>\n

Balzac spent the whole of June in Sach\u00e9 away from the Paris turmoil. But he wasn't inspired to write The Lesser Bourgeoisie<\/em>. He spent most of his time walking and playing whist. At the end of his time here, Balzac began experiencing the first symptoms of serious heart disease. He joined Mrs Hanska in Ukraine in September where he spent a year and a half.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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