I didn't visit those. I did some midlevel tourist stuff, including the Chateau de Villandry, notable for its gardens. Like those of most Loire castles, the Renaissance gardens of Villandry had been replaced in the 19th century by parcs a l'anglaise, but in this case two people in the pre-war and interwar period came around to reverse that, which means that Villandry has some decorative kitchen gardens, love-themed bushes, basins, and other trappings of the Renaissance outdoors.
Villandry still belongs to the grandson or great-grandson of those people.
These were: one (1) heiress to a Philadelphia fortune, named Ann Coleman, educated at Bryn Mawr and apparently a quite good chemist, who met in Paris one (1) penniless Spaniard, named Joaquim Carvallo, also a chemist. They took to arguing about the war between their countries taking place at the time, swiftly married, used her money to buy a castle on the Loire, which they renovated, and gave up their scientific achievements.
What my parents and I found shocking was that this Ann Coleman is mentioned only in the beginning of the exhibit, and that after their marriage it is Mr. Carvallo who buys, renovates, and rethinks the castle. His quotes are, according to his descendant, the interesting one and the fact that he had a wife who was probably an interesting woman and was, I'm sure, rather involved in what was done with her fortune.
In fact, as the museum puts it, her most important deed after her marriage was converting to her husband's devout Catholicism and "sharing his odyssey of faith".
