A must-see
article | Reading time6 min
The Cité's permanent tour immerses you in the heart of the French language, thanks to a fun, interactive itinerary. We'll show you around?
A 1200 m² tour
The permanent tour is located on the second floor of the Logis Royal. It comprises fifteen rooms divided into three sections, plus an introductory room on the château and its territory. From the moment they ascend the King's Staircase, visitors are immersed in the château's sumptuous past, thanks to sculpted Renaissance decorations featuring a wealth of royal emblems.
The first permanent exhibition entirely dedicated to the French language, the permanent tour has been designed under the scientific direction of Xavier North, Barbara Cassin, Zeev Gourarier and Hassane Kassi Kouyaté.
It will be supported by some sixty innovative mediation devices and precious objects, documents and works on loan from some twenty national and international partner institutions(Académie française, Centre national des arts plastiques, Comédie française, Musée du Louvre, Musée de l'Armée, Mucem, Musée national de l'Éducation, Musée national des Arts asiatiques - Guimet, Musée des beaux-arts de Tours, Musée de la Civilisation du Québec...).
The tour will also feature contemporary artistic creations.
© Atelier Projectiles
A castle, a land
A good place to start
In the first room, "Un château, un territoire", which is open to visitors free of charge, the history of the château and its architecture is revealed through a large chronological fresco, a tactile model and a monumental projection tracing the evolution of the estate and its links with the forest, the town and the Valois region.
In short filmed interviews, a number of Villers-Cotterêts residents draw on their own memories to tell of their attachment to the château, its park and the Retz forest, celebrated in its day by the Cotterézian Alexandre Dumas...
A veritable land of writers, Villers-Cotterêts and the surrounding region have a long-standing relationship with the French language, as evidenced by an interactive device that allows visitors to immerse themselves in the life, work and world of several of the region's most famous writers.
© Atelier Projectiles
The adventure of French
French, a world language
As if in an airport concourse, a large departure board, a monumental projection of French-speaking destinations, invites visitors to embark on a journey into the "world language" that is French .
The exhibition invites visitors to discover the universe of the French language, with its different forms of expression, both oral and written, and its relationship to the world, with its spread across different continents and its relations with other languages.
By bringing together "language artists" and French-language works, the expressive capacities that contribute to the reinvention and dissemination of French are explored through the themes of laughter, passionate love and revolt, in films, shows, readings and more. French-language creation is also illustrated in music, with a radio station broadcasting extracts of songs that play with words and language.
© Atelier Projectiles
Find the book that suits you
Written expression is highlighted in a majestic "magic library". On the outside, with activities to suit all tastes, several thousand books written in French, from every continent, period and genre (novels, poetry, essays, comic strips, children's literature, etc.) are on display and can be consulted on site.
Inside, an immersive device hides a unique experience: visitors are invited to answer a series of questions, immersed in a visual and sound universe that evolves according to their answers.
Visitors who tell this "virtual librarian" what they'd like to read will receive a very personal reading recommendation, thanks to artificial intelligence. How about discovering your new favorite book?
© Atelier Projectiles
French, an ongoing invention
Thanks to the many devices on display, visitors can explore the way the language works, from the constitution of its vocabulary to the evolution of its pronunciation, via its standardization, but also in the variety of its uses and its capacity to constantly reinvent itself.
Let's not forget that we all play a part in the evolution of language, through our choice of words - new or old, French or foreign - that we use to describe our daily lives!
In the "games room", it's visitors' turn to have fun with the French language, discovering sounds and words from all over the world. Young and old alike can challenge each other to a battle on a giant word grid, play word "Prêtés-rendus" between French and English, or learn about the variety of regional words used to describe the same object. So, bread or chocolatine?
© Atelier Projectiles
Explore the origins of words
Take a seat under the dome to discover a spectacular 360° projection showing the journey of words to French. Over the centuries, as a result of military conquests and cultural and commercial exchanges, words have evolved in pronunciation, form and meaning. Twelve examples illustrate these transformations. For example, the word "siren", of Greek origin, referred to a mythological figure half-woman half-bird, whose seductive song led sailors to a fatal fate... Today, the word refers to an alarm signaling danger!
In one of the turrets, a sound system also features real or reconstructed voices of historical figures from the 9th to the 20th centuries. Visitors can hear the differences in pronunciation, intonation and rhythm from one era to the next. You may come across Joan of Arc, Alexandre Dumas, Léopold Sédar Senghor or even François I...
© Atelier Projectiles
French, a matter of state
The status of a language, its place in society and the conditions under which it is used always have a political dimension. This is particularly true in France: whether royal or republican, the State has placed the French language at the heart of the political construction of the nation.
Although French is the only official language in France, it has always coexisted with numerous regional and extra-territorial languages. Today, 72 regional languages are officially recognized. Visitors can discover them thanks to the regional language sound luminaires, which light up and broadcast the sound of a language from a region of France, while the region is illuminated on a monumental map.
© Atelier Projectiles
The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts: the final word
The tour ends in the room presenting the Ordinance signed by François I in 1539 at Villers-Cotterêts, which granted official status to the French language.
In the name of justice, the ordinance imposed the French language on administrative and legal acts, to make them comprehensible to those to whom they applied. While the model it proposes may seem self-evident in the country that introduced it, everyday objects and video testimonials remind us that in other countries, other linguistic choices have been made, and several languages may have equivalent status.
Visitors end their tour in the Royal Chapel, where they can contemplate its sumptuous, Italian-influenced sculptural decor. They can virtually leaf through some of the books in François I 's library before heading up the Queen's Staircase to the Cour du Jeu de Paume.
© Atelier Projectiles
