Chateau Rambouillet (original) (raw)

The \'Ch�teau de Rambouillet', is located in the town of Rambouillet, Yvelines departement, France, 50 km (30 miles) southwest of Paris.

The Ch�teau was originally a simple manor house dating back to 1368 that over time was expanded to a Renaissance style chateau. It is where King Francois I died in 1547. Like the H�tel de Rambouillet in Paris, the ch�teau was owned by the Marquis de Rambouillet, during the reign of King Louis XIII of France. Later the ch�teau became the property of the Crown during the reign of King Louis XVI, and from 1870 to 1883, the Ch�teau was leased to the duc de la Tr�moille - its first step towards achieving the status of presidential residence.

In February 1896, Rambouillet received a visit from President F�lix Faure who had decided to spend his summers there. Since then, Rambouillet has become the summer residence of Presidents of the Republic who entertain and give hunting parties for many foreign dignitaries, princes and heads of State.

In November 1975 the first �G7� summit was organized by French President Val�ry Giscard d'Estaing in the Ch�teau for the leaders of the world�s most industrialized countries. The then leaders attending were: Gerald Ford, United States, Pierre Trudeau, Canada, Harold Wilson, Great Britain, Aldo Moro, Italy, Takeo Miki, Japan, and Helmut Schmidt, Germany.

The Ch�teau de Rambouillet continues to be used as a venue for bilateral summits and in February 1999 it was used to host the negotiations on Kosovo.