[Background Information] Chatoeil

Written by Ashton and Laura
Special thanks to: Lena and Sioban*
 

 

A short walk from the palace of Beauxbatons lies the wizarding town of Chatoeil. The town is a hub for the arts with an award-winning opera, symphony orchestra, museums, galleries, and a world-famous library. Rumoured to be the birthplace of the renowned playwright Malecrit, the residents are very proud of the town's artistic heritage and the town square features a large fountain that pays homage to the French playwright. The streets are paved with cobblestones and lit by gas lamps; there are many smaller winding lanes branching off of the few main streets. The natural harbour acts as a port for wizarding France, with a small marina that moors both pleasure-craft and fishing vessels, and a beach popular with both locals and visitors. Chatoeil has a few bars, but no nightclubs due to the town's noise curfew.

 

1e Arrondissement - Housing District
Private Houses, apartments, boutiques, bed & breakfast's.
 
2e Arrondissement - Garden District
Park, gardens, vineyard.
 
3e Arrondissement - Town Square
Town hall, fountain, the library.
 
4e Arrondissement - Entertainment District
Museums, opera, symphony orchestra, ballet, bars.
 
5e Arrondissement - Retail District
Café's, restaurants, shops. There is a short alleyway near the cemetery for 'darker' tastes.
 
 
*The original Chatoeil Guide was compiled by Elle duMars, Maire Dins, Calantha Blount, Oliver d'Aubigne & Peter Alva Tannenbaum.  Without their amazing hard work and dedication, Chatoeil as a part of Magical Hogwarts would not be possible.

 

Address: 7 Place du Marché aux Choux, 5e Arrondissement, Chatoeil
Hours: 9am - 6pm, Monday to Saturday; 10am - 4pm Sundays
Merchandise: gourmet chocolates and café
 
The shop and café of well known pâtissier and chocalatier René Rebert is always worth a visit. The small shop is famed throughout all of France's wizarding world, and those who have tasted the dreamlike chocolates sold here will always return for more. The shop sells gourmet chocolates, truffles, gateaux, and cakes. There is so much variety it is very difficult to decide on just one thing to buy; no matter where you look in this shop your mouth will certainly water.
 
Those who are too impatient to take their treats home are welcome to enjoy them immediately in the small café attached to the shop. Whether they choose the cosy interior or the street-side tables outside, customers can enjoy their sweets while being served coffee, tea or Rebert's famous hot chocolate.

Address: 19 Rue d'Escoffier, 1e Arrondissement, Chatoeil
Hours: 7am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday; 8am to 3pm on Sundays
Merchandise: bakery; breads, pastries, and coffee
 
Located in the housing district of Chatoeil, the Boulangerie de Plaisirs serves as the premier bakery for the city. Known for both its exquisite baked goods and its quaint atmosphere, the bakery's brick ovens are in use almost constantly so the air surrounding the shop is rarely free of the rich, inviting aroma of baking breads. The selection of breads that can be purchased from the bakery is the widest available in Chatoeil; from traditional baguettes to foccacia, sourdough loafs to sweet rolls, all of the items available for purchase are made from the highest quality ingredients. The Boulangerie also sells pastries (such as pain au chocolat and croissants), gourmet sandwiches, and coffee.

Address: 49 Rue de Beauxbatons, 2e Arrondissement, Chatoeil
Hours: 10am to 7pm Monday to Thursday, stays open late as required on Fridays and Saturday
Merchandise: vineyard, winery and cellar door
 
On the road that leads from Beauxbatons to the village of Chatoeil is a winery first established in the early 1900's by retired painter Amaury Spiridón. The winery and cellar door are located in the garden district of Chatoeil, at the edge of the town (it is in fact the last building on the way out), though the vineyard itself stretches almost all the way to the palace grounds. Best known for its dry and fruity rosé, the winery also produces rich, full-bodied reds (grenache, mourvèdre, and cabernet sauvignon), and excellent whites (viognier, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc). The cellar door is a small restaurant that primarily focuses on wine tastings, with platters available to order featuring local cheeses, meats, and breads. The vineyard and buildings may be hired out for functions and events, and many a wedding has taken place here.

Address: 11 Rue du Bonaccord, 4e Arrondissement, Chatoeil
Hours: open seven days a week from 10am to 7pm, the grounds remain open until around 11pm should people wish to enjoy the gardens
Merchandise: art gallery
 
Established circa 1812, the Galerie de Chatoeil is home to the largest collection of Wizarding art in France. The collection dates back as far as 1458 and is comprised of some of the finest works by the most formidable artists throughout Western Europe. The building is two storeys, with the main entry and antechamber and two wings; east and west. The whole interior of the building is lit by floating candelabras, with many of the windows shuttered to avoid sunlight damaging the more precious pieces of art. The floors are French oak, with marble pillars and high, vaulted ceilings. Entrance to the gallery is free (although donations are always welcomed) and hourly tours are offered to those who wish to attend.
 
Grounds: The structural design of the building is based upon that of the French Baroque architecture. Finely constructed wrought iron gates that encircle the entire compound protect the sandstone building and the superbly cultivated gardens. The exterior walls are enchanted to illuminate at night, providing a formidable lightshow for visitors and passers by. The parterre at the back of the buildings is in outstanding condition and is taken care of by a team of dedicated gardeners. It is completely symmetrical and boasts clipped scrolling designs, low hedges and carefully trimmed trees.
 
The Gallery: Through the double doors is the entrance foyer with reception area, a welcome witch and maps for visitors use; the décor of the foyer is far more modern than other parts of the gallery due to a recent renovation. There are  large, floor-to-ceiling doors that lead to each wing, and to the immaculate gardens to the rear of the building, and a large, spiral staircase to reach the first floor. The West Wing is home to artwork and sculptures dated before 1800, and the East Wing hosts the more modern art in the gallery; those created from the 19th century up until present day.
 
Les Habitants de Beauxbatons: In an antechamber off the main foyer is the special collection 'Les Habitants de Beauxbatons': introduced in the late 1800’s in order to honour distinguished alumni of the school. The collection was later curated to house all artwork in the Galerie de Chatoeil related to the school. The room is adorned with pale blue silk draperies. The exhibition includes portraits and sculptures of the three founders and past headmasters and headmistresses, there are also various paintings of the palace and it’s grounds over the years.

Address: 4 Place du Marché aux Choux, 5e Arrondissement, Chatoeil
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 10am until late.
Merchandise: Maghreb-themed bar and restaurant
 
Casablanca offers the finest North African and Mediterranean cuisine to the visitors and residents of Chatoeil. You can stop by for a traditional mint tea or rich coffee with baklava (a middle eastern influence), enjoy some light tapas and cocktails, or sit down for a delicious, authentic meal. The restaurant has been in Chatoeil for decades, and though some menu items have been available since the beginning, each new chef brings their own twist; over the years what was originally a Moroccan-themed restaurant has evolved to showcase food from all over the Maghreb (North African) region and the Mediterranean.
 
It is one of the largest restaurants in Chatoeil; the dining area seats around two-hundred guests, and there is a long bar that runs the length of the room. The interior is decorated with ochre walls and tiled floors, and lit by floating Moroccan lanterns. Plush sofas and intricate wooden tables and chairs are scattered with comfy cushions and draped in rich fabrics. Sections of the restaurant can be screened off if requested and during good weather the terrace is opened as an extended dining area.

Address: 16 Rue de la Bougainvillée, 1e Arrondissement, Chatoeil
Hours: always open
Merchandise: boutique hotel
 
Located in the housing district of Chatoeil, L’Auberge des Fleurs ("The Inn of Flowers") is the premier hotel for visitors to the town. Nestled in beautiful gardens, and only a short distance from the water, the boutique hotel and its picturesque views have attracted guests for nearly a century. Built from cream-coloured stones, the inn is a four-story hexagonal building with a large open courtyard in the center. Large wooden doors open up at the front of the building to allow for carriages to drive into the courtyard. When opened, the doors reveal an elaborate stone fountain in the middle of the courtyard and a wide variety of some of France’s finest flowers.
 
Each of the rooms in L’Auberge des Fleurs are exquisitely decorated -- all furnishings and linens were handcrafted locally. The hotel offers thirty regular rooms (complete with small lounge, and bathroom) as well as sixteen family suites (two bedrooms, a living/dining room, deluxe bath and small kitchen) and four artist suites (a single bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and workspace). Each suite is named for a different French flower and the rooms are decorated to match. Many of the rooms have patios from which one can enjoy the exquisite views of the gardens that surround the inn.
 
L’Auberge des Fleurs entertains guests year-round, but during the peak season (spring and summer), getting a room at short notice can be difficult. Those who wish to visit when the flowers are at their most blossoming are encouraged to make reservations well in advance.

Address: 200 Rue du Malecrit, 4e Arrondissement, Chatoeil
Hours: Open 10am-10pm on Monday-Saturday for patrons; 11am-7pm Sundays; all hours for performers
Merchandise: opera house
 
The opera company of Chatoeil resides in a massive, four story building, slightly bigger than the Opéra de Marseille (or Opéra Municipal, more recently) nearby and has around two thousand seats in its auditorium. The Opéra only offers magical performances and utilizes magic in its set changes, special effects and costumes, however, well-known operas from every place, era, and composer are performed in the building.
 
The building is made of expertly carved decorative marble and is supported by large pillars in the front, giving it a rather grand, demanding presence. There is a dome at the top which is made of copper and is part of the structure of the artwork on the ceiling on the inside of the foyer. While housing a similar number of people to Opéra Municipal, it resembles the Palais Garnier quite a bit more in its Second Empire architectural style. There is a large fountain in front of the building, in the center of the entertainment square in Chatoeil that houses the ballet, the opera house, and a regular theatre which is even larger than the other two and is home to numerous musical events and acts throughout the year.
There are numerous entrances to the opera house, each under an archway.
 
The first floor has two wings: the right wing holds the box office and the left wing holds the gift shop. Entrances to orchestra-level seating can be accessed from the first level. The grand staircase begins several feet into the foyer and leads to the Salon and the main entrance to the auditorium. On the ceiling, ornate paintings and gold carvings litter the building as far as the eye can see and even move and change based on environment. There are several massive, glittering crystal chandeliers that hang from the center of the dome at the top.
 
Climbing up the grand staircase, the center holds a large open archway that has two or more ushers stationed at it to help guests up or down the stairs in the auditorium to show them to their seats. Venturing into the left or right wings, one would find themselves in the Salon Doré. The Salon houses an all-accommodating bar and a restaurant that requires reservation. The Salon is a good place for the audience to share opinions during downtime and partake in refreshments.
 
In the auditorium, decorated with a ceiling and details (the railings, seats, chandeliers, etc.) just as beautiful and captivating as the foyer, there are five levels of seating with a certain amount of rows per tier. Floor seating, or orchestra seating, in front of the pit that can house up to 200 players, is some of the most coveted seating along with the centres of the bottom two tiers above the floor. These are the most expensive seats with the best sight-lines of the stage. The Ministry and other large parties frequently reserve entire middle-bottom tiers for viewing of particularly popular shows. The third tier is sufficient enough and is often purchased by regular patrons, and the top tier is rather considered nose-bleed seating -- still good, but notably the cheapest tickets and generally the ones students or people without season passes tend to purchase.
 
The stage is the crown jewel of the auditorium: it is tall, wide, and deep, lined with gold trim and glittering red curtains that can change color or image based on the scene. The sets rotate and change magically, making for seamless, enrapturing performances. Performers often wear magical costumes as well as having their hair and makeup enchanted, specifically for more fantastical productions.
 
Below and above the main levels are floors which hold rehearsal rooms, dance studios, closets full of costumes and libraries full of scores, and a gigantic basement for set building and costume making. They cannot be accessed by patrons unless there is a scheduled tour of the house. Behind the stage, there are a large variety of dressing rooms: singular ones for leads and larger, open ones for ensemble members, and hallways used for performers to travel around the house as needed.
 
The Opéra de Chatoeil is a grand place, requiring black tie dress, and is usually full of patrons from around the Wizarding world. The winter is the busiest, most difficult time to obtain excellent tickets.

Address: 6 Rue du Malecrit, 3e Arrondissement, Chatoeil
Hours: 9am - 8pm, Monday to Sunday
Merchandise: library
 
The oldest and most expansive library in wizarding France, rivalled only by the library in the palace of Beauxbatons, la Bibliothèque du Sorcier is visited by scholars from all over the wizarding world. The building was originally constructed in 1635 as a grand holiday home for a wealthy Parisian family; the building reflects the baroque architecture that was taking other parts of Europe by storm at the time. When the last remaining family member (Xavier Perrault, an avid bibliophile and scholar) died in 1803, his will requested that the building be donated to the town of Chatoeil, with the condition that it be transformed into a public library.
 
The original, and considerably expansive, personal collection of the Perrault family has been maintained and, over the years, added to. Some of the rarer works owned by the Perrault's have since moved into the restricted section of the library proper. With a grant from the French Ministry of Magic the townspeople have over the many years acquired more books, texts and scrolls (both commonplace and rare works) to get the library to the grand scale of the modern day.
 
The library is divided into three 'collections': fiction, non-fiction, and La Vie de Moldus. Originally the books were simply organised by date of publication and author, but in the early 1900's the library committee decided it was time to separate the fiction and non-fiction works to make it easier to find specific books, and also took stock of every book -- at the time the library held close to two thousand books, in over five hundred languages. The fictional section holds some of the very first fictional wizarding stories ever published. The non-fiction section is considerably larger, approximately two-thirds of the library is non-fictional works. After the First Wizarding War a new, smaller section was introduced: La Vie de Moldu. It contains some of the most important muggle works of the last two hundred years and a special section of famous plays, with the aim of encouraging tolerance of muggles.

Address: 6 Place de la République, 5e Arrondissement, Chatoeil
Hours: 9am - 6pm, monday to sunday
Merchandise: mirrors; magical and mundane
 
Known across Western Europe, Miroir à l'âme has a near-unbeatable reputation for producing mirrors of extremely high quality. Boasting a corner location and two full walls of windows, the store is bright and airy throughout the year, full of glass shelves containing figurines, statuettes and delicate boxes. Along the two windowless walls are the mirrors; both magical and mundane, you can find two-way mirrors and looking glasses, some taller than a man and others that fit in the palm of your hand. Custom orders may be placed, or you can pick something off the shop floor -- but not everything is for sale, and some of the mirrors in this store have a much darker past than may appear.

Address: 2 Place de la République, 5e Arrondissement, Chatoeil
Hours: 10am-6pm Monday-Saturday, 11am-5pm Sunday
Merchandise: Salon & nail services
 
Vénus Beauté is the premier salon in the Chatoeil area. Its clientele is mostly composed of women, but there are a few men on the roster as well, due to the excellence of the work done here. The color of the paint and decor much resemble its namesake -- the walls are yellow and orbs, which hold bright flames, dangle from the ceiling. There is a potions cabinet which lines an entire wall of the open plan and contains glass cases to house them. All of the newest, most cutting-edge hair products and concoctions are sold at the salon, and the selection cycles out every few months.
 
The ground floor is where the main things happen: hair treatments, cuts, styling, and potion mixing by Sacharissa Tugwood, one of the leading experts in beauty potions of the era. There is a small corner of the salon which is used for practice for students who are just about to graduate beauty school, and they train under the celebrity-employed, experienced Madame Agnés Savard.
 
The second floor is where nail appointments are filled and where storage is located. Each and any service must be booked sometimes months in advance -- these beauticians are prestigious in their area and always have a busy client base.