Château de Dampierre-sur-Boutonne — Attraction in Saint-Jean-d'Angély

I have been three times now and have really enjoyed previous visits. However; I tried to visit yesterday with my children and a student who was staying with us for English language immersion and were disappointed to be turned away at the gate. We had planned our day and I checked on here to see the opening hours of the Chateaux because it is October and I wasn't sure when they were open. It clearly states 10.30am - 6.30pm every day. So we got there for 10.40am; we had planned to visit the Chateaux and gardens and then go for lunch before our afternoon activity. After driving 30 minutes to get there we were informed that they don't actually open until 2.30pm which is four hours after their listed opening times. We were all very disappointed and what a waste of time and fuel.

If you want to visit I strongly suggest you don't rely on them to have accurate opening times. It is probably best to phone them first to avoid disappointment and a...

La chance de gagner le gros lot à une loterie est bien plus grande que de pouvoir visiter les jardins du Château de Dampierre. Les propriétaires ne vous ouvriront la porte que s'ils en ont envie. Selon eux, les horaires d'ouverture indiqués par le Ministère de la Culture ne sont plus corrects depuis des années et je comprends maintenant pourquoi c'est le cas… Convient uniquement aux joueurs, fortement déconseillés aux amateurs de jardin.

The chance that you will win the main prize in a lottery is much greater than that you can visit the gardens of Château de Dampierre. The owners will only open the door for you if they feel like it. According to them, the opening times indicated by the Ministry of Culture have not been correct for years and I now understand why this is the case… Only suitable for gamblers, for garden enthusiasts strongly discouraged.

De kans dat u de hoofdprijs in een loterij wint is vele male groter dan dat u de tuinen van Château de Dampierre kunt bezoeken. De eigenaren doen de deur namelijk alleen voor u open als ze daar zelf zin in hebben. De door het ministerie van cultuur aangegeven openingstijden kloppen volgens hen al jaren niet en ik begrijp nu waarom dit ook zo is… Alleen geschikt voor gokkers, voor tuinliefhebbers ten stelligste afgeraden.

Die Chance, dass Sie den Hauptpreis in einer Lotterie gewinnen, ist viel größer, als dass Sie die Gärten von Château de Dampierre besuchen können. Die Eigentümer öffnen Ihnen nur dann die Tür, wenn sie Lust dazu haben. Demnach stimmen die vom Kultusministerium angegebenen Öffnungszeiten seit Jahren nicht mehr und ich verstehe jetzt, warum das so ist… Nur für Glücksspieler geeignet, für Gartenfreunde...

We stopped here to break our journey, have a picnic and stretch our legs. I am very glad we did. We got a really warm welcome from the multilingual receptionist who explained about the castle, gave us an English language guide book and gave us a quiz for the children to complete. The castle is beautiful and very interesting with lots of history. The gardens are stunning! The gardens contain many sculpture, a maze and fragrant roses. Stop here, eat your picnic lunch and enjoy 2 or 3...