Thu 11 May 2006
A Castle in My Backyard
I don’t really have a castle in my backyard, but doesn’t it sound neat? I think it is the title of a book about someone living in France that I saw once. I do have a chateau near me, if that counts. The oldest part is a ruin now but there is still a part of it that is occupied by renters. The owners of the chateau, I assume possibly aristocrats, sold us our property for our house. Their father is buried in our nearby cemetery and he was a doctor. When I go out walking I always look at the chateau and wonder about its history. An old neighbor told us that it was originally built in the 1600’s. It could have gotten damaged during the revolution as many castles were destroyed then. Today I did a bit of trespassing, just up to the pigeonnier, long an object of my photography. The French built quite elaborate buildings for their pigeons, raising them for their meat and for fertilizer.
Pretty elaborate for a bunch of birds.
The door to enter. The roof has fallen in and the interior is full of trees and bushes.
This is the newer part of the chateau, still inhabited.
The elegant and lovely remains of the old chateau.
We won’t see iris around too much longer.
May 11th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
More gorgeous photographs! I love these stunning old chateaus that remain beautiful, even when they’re collapsing in a heap. Of course to fix one up would be quite an expensive job. I’ve seen a few chateaus that have been brought back from the brink of ruin. They’re truly breathtaking but the owners truly are now bereft of funds!
May 11th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
Oh, I’d be trespassing everyday! Amazing for a bunch of dirty birds–er, pigeons, not African Greys, mind you. I think I could fix that up for myself! And the old remains, think I’d be writing poetry if I lived there–it all looks so inspiring. You are so fortunate to have the beauty around you. And you enjoy it so. What a wonderful match.
May 11th, 2006 at 11:07 pm
Yes, I think fixing up this chateau would be very expensive. I found out that many places brick up their windows-I see this often in old buildings-because they are taxed for each window. Taxes in France are a real burden. I did hear that the lady owning the beautiful chateau outside of Paris used in the Da Vinci Code-book and movie-gets about 20,000 Euros a week because people want to stay there. Most people are barely making it. Alot of chateux were damaged during the Revolution which, I’m sure, greatly adds to renovation costs. Fortunately, I will never have that problem. Linda