Montrichard (<!-- Letter T is correctly pronounced -->) is a town and former commune in the Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Montrichard Val de Cher.

During the French Revolution, the commune was known as .

Pronunciation

is pronounced , with a T sound, despite its silence in the word and similar place names such as . One of the explanations that may justify the pronunciation of the T is that is derived from the words (mountain, hill), (for three) and (square), because the town is situated on a hill surrounded on three sides by square towers.

Notable people

  • Joan of France, Duchess of Berry, married the future king of France Louis XII in Montrichard, though the marriage was later annulled.
  • André Alerme, a French actor who appeared in more than 70 films, died here in 1960.
  • Paulette Abagnale, mother of Frank Abagnale, confidence trickster
  • Gaétan Cathelineau, painter of portraits and of historical and genre subjects.
  • Eugénie Luce, French educator who lived and worked in Algiers, died in Montrichard in 1882.

The town is mentioned in the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can, as the town from which the mother of Frank Abagnale came. Later in the film, Abagnale has set up a high-end printing facility for printing corporate cheques in Montrichard when he is tracked down and arrested by the FBI. The exterior shots of the town, however, were filmed in the Place Royale in the lower town of Quebec City, Canada, which is identifiable by the presence of the Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church.

References