Châteaux and stately homes are often seen as sedate affairs; not so with the Château de la Gataudière near the coast at Marennes in the Charente-Maritime, not far from Royan. This tourist attraction offers a dirt (scramble) and quad bike circuit, a paintball and laser tag area and a treetop adventure obstacle course.

Paintball and Laser Tag Area

The paint balling and the more clothes-friendly laser tagging (essentially paint balling with a laser gun) area offers a variety of different ‘battleground’ scenarios, including a maze. A great advantage of the laser tag game is that children as young as seven can play it. For paintballing it’s from the age of 14.

Treetop Adventure Park

The treetop adventure park is known as Châteaubranche Aventure and has various courses suitable for all ages from four to 77. It has obstacle courses which are between from one metre to 14 metre high above ground level plus one 60m long zip wire ride and one 200m long zip wire ride.

Dirt and Quad Bike Circuit

As for the quad bikes and dirt or scramble bikes, there is a 650-metre track at which you can hire bikes for ten or more minutes, or even take your own (as long as it has a silencer…). It’s open to anyone aged 14 or over. The château also sells dirt bikes.

The Chateau

For those who prefer their stately homes to be more stately, then the Château de la Gataudière still has something to offer. It has a sculpted stone hall, Louis XIII and Louis XIV furniture, a naval museum, hunting trophy exhibition and a horse-drawn carriage.

The history of the château is also fascinating. It was built in 1749 to the design of François Fresneau de la Gataudière, who inherited the property from his mother. François Fresneau de la Gataudière was a respected engineer and scientist who spent time in what is now French Guiana. He is credited with having written the first scientific paper on rubber, having come across a rubber tree in 1747. As a result François Fresneau de la Gataudière is sometimes referred to as the ‘father of rubber’. The château has, unusually, stayed in the same family ever since it was built. Through the marriage of de la Gataudière’s daughter it passed to Francois Chasseloup Laubat. The current owner is Prince Stanislas Murat de Chasseloup-Laubat.

Address and Contact Information
Château de la Gataudière
19 rue de la Gataudière
17320 Marennes

Tel: +33 5 46 85 01 07
Mobile: +33 6 13 23 57 63
E-mail: info@gataudiere.com