They did not know the Chateau Meiland series themselves, but they fell in love with the castle immediately. Jan and Monique van Loon from Vessem can call themselves proud owners of Chateau Marillaux. The castle in the French town of Aixe-sur-Vienne, which has been completely restored by the Meilandjes. Next year the Van Loon family will start a bed and breakfast in the new cottage.
“It has been a dream of my husband for a long time to manage a castle,” explains Monique van Loon. “When my son saw this castle for sale, we immediately knew we wanted to go for it.”
In January Monique went to have a look and through the summer months the family traveled to the French town. “The inside of the chateau is completely finished, we just want to do some things on the outside.” For example, the roof is neatly cleaned and the shutters for the windows are also renewed.
“No one in our family knew the series.”
It was when the son of the house saw the castle on Funda that Jan and Monique also knew that the building existed. “No one in our family knew the series.” But that has now changed. “After we started watching in January, we did watch a number of episodes of the series.”
The Meilandjes were often bothered by people who came onto the gravel path without notice and took pictures of the chateau. “That’s not really different with us,” says Monique with a laugh. “But we really like that, those people often know more about the castle than we know. So we learn something that way.” The family hopes things don’t get too far out of hand. “My husband likes to give tours, but it’s still a bed and breakfast.”
“We will continue to live in Brabant, in the winter the castle is very cold.”
The Van Loon family will divide their time between Vessem and Aixe-sur-Vienne “We will continue to live in Brabant, the castle is very cold in winter.” This will ultimately also have consequences for the bed and breakfast. “We will probably also close the castle in the winter.”
It is wonderful for the family that they can find peace and space in France. “Not that we don’t have that in Vessem,” says Monique jokingly. “But it fills up faster in the Netherlands and at the chateau we can enjoy the peace and tranquility and enjoy the French nature.”