Before driving back to Germany, we decided to pay a visit to the Château de Ray-sur-Saône. By boat, it took us around 2 hours to get there, while by car it was only around 15 minutes. On the way to the castle, we realized that the air conditioning of the car was broken, which would make the ride back rather uncomfortable. And we also could not maintain the rest of the butter in its solid form and had to dump.
The Ray family built a stronghold in the 11th century that eventually became a medieval castle. After it was almost completely destroyed during the Ten Years’ War (the regional theater of the Thirty Years’ War from 1635–1648), the subsequent owners, the Marmier family, rebuilt it in the classicist style seen today. The estate was never sold and remained in the same family lineage until May 2015, when the last owner, Countess Diane de Salverte (Oct 1st 1934 – Oct 22nd 2016), donated it to the Département Haute-Saône. She never married, had no children, and realized that this was her only chance to maintain the castle and its contents. She was fully aware that it was impossible for a single person to shoulder the financial burden. She is described as being deeply connected to the region and its people, very down-to-earth, wearing simple, practical clothes, driving a modest car, and completely unpretentious. The département committed itself to the restoration in return and to making it accessible to the public, which was the explicit will of Diane’s mother, Gabrielle de Marmier. Well, the restoration was successful, the castle looks impressive and elegant at the same time.
