FRANCE on Your Own Newsletter



The Independent Traveler's Newsletter PAGE FOUR

A DREAM BECAME A REALITY by Jo Anne Marquardt With a sense of wonder, I approached Le Palais Idéal du Facteur Cheval (The Ideal Palace of the Postman Cheval). I was enticed by a short article I had read in a magazine and had no idea of what to expect upon arrival. It's not your typical tourist Mecca but well worth the drive to search it out. Located of the A7 autoroute (Autoroute du Soleil) southeast of Lyon in the Drôme département in the sleepy village of Hauterives, it is easy to miss. In fact, there were few posted signs, and we had to stop to ask several people before we found someone who knew where it was located. We entered a nondescript building that included a ticket counter and a gift shop, having no idea what we would see after paying the entry fee and exiting the far door into a park-like setting. I was transfixed. There in front of me stood an immense haunting and magical construction that I could never have imagined. This strange embellished palace, or temple, had grown almost organically over thirty-three years as Ferdinand Cheval slowly and painstakingly orchestrated his compelling dream. In April of 1879, while Cheval was making his daily rounds as the village postman, he stumbled upon a strange-looking rock that he picked up an took home. This rock triggered an old dream of his to create a fantastical castle or palace, and at the age of forty-three, with his first inspirational rock, he finally began to build. Each day he collected stones as he delivered the mail. As he began to collect more stones than his pockets could hold, he carried a basket, and finally, he pushed a wheel barrow. These were sandstone rocks, hardened by the passage of time. He diligently continued this nightly construction until his retirement at age sixty when he was finally able to devote his daytime hours, as well, to his intricate habitat, complete with his own burial tomb. When the village denied his request to be buried there, he deemed his palace complete as the age of seventy-six and spent the last eight years of his life creating an equally unusual and ornate tomb to appropriately contain his remains in the local cemetery. The hike to the cemetery is rather long. I was told it was about a kilometer away, but I think it was farther. I walked for thirty minutes, but with the afternoon hear, I never found it and returned to the car. Maybe next time. What's so startling about this? The man had a vision and acted upon it. He never gave up though others criticized him. He had no formal training in engineering, masonry or art, yet the structure has endured and remains in excellent condition, bound together with lime, mortar and cement. You can walk into it, climb the staircases, wander through the interior labyrinth and read philosophical quotations etched into the cement walls and door frames. There are sculpted turrets, whimsical animals, mythological figures, forms from nature, embedded shells, religious and historical references from Christianity to Hinduism ~ all incorporated into the richly texture décor. Each of the four Baroque-like façades tells its own compelling story. Was the man a genius or a lunatic? Art Brut and Outsider Art come to mind. He was certainly a man outside of his time. As Le Palais continues to inspire us today, it also influenced artists and innovatorrs of the past such as Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst and André Breton. With courage, focus and will, Cheval created a lasting monument for those of us fortunate enough to visit this remarkable site. He had a long, focused and productive life from April 19, 1836 to August 19, 1924. Ferdinand Cheval has inspired me to hold onto my dreams and believe in the possible. Le Palais Idéal is open all year, Sundays and holidays included, with the exception of the following: Christmas Day, December 31 and January 15-31. It is located at 8, rue du Palais, Hauterives. Outside the grounds, the Galaure River flows by and creates a scenic park-like area for picnicking or walking. [photos copyrighted by Jo Anne Marquardt. All rights reserved.] Jo Anne Marquardt is a true francophile and travels to France as often as possible. She keeps illustrated journals during her visits that have become the books you see below. And note the beautiful cover artwork ~ also by a very talented Jo Anne. Order any or all of these enjoyable travel memoires of France from Amazon.com. Order by clicking on the Amazon banner. SPONSORING THIS ISSUE The elegant Château de la Caillotière is a weekly rental property with six splendid guest rooms, tennis, a swimming pool, a horse and pony ~ and offers you riding lessons ~ on 70 acres. Located in the Pays de la Loire not far from Angers and Saumur, it's convenient for visiting the royal Loire château and the charming towns along the Loire River. And don't forget the spectacular wines and vineyards of the Loire Valley! Click on the photo or the link above to learn more or book your stay. *DISCLAIMER: You have received this newsletter because your email address is on our Opt-In mailing list, i.e., you have requested to receive FRANCE On Your Own* ©. If you would like to discontinue receipt of this newsletter, please send an email to publisher@franceonyourown.com with "unsubscribe*" on the Subject line. Unless indicated otherwise, photos, graphics, artwork and text in the FRANCE On Your Own* © newsletter are all the property of Cold Spring Press and FRANCE On Your Own © and cannot be copied, duplicated or used in any manner by anyone without the express written permission of Cold Spring Press. FRANCE On Your Own © is published online by Cold Spring Press, P O Box 26098, San Diego, California 92196-0098. This publication is copyrighted and no portions of the text, artwork, graphics or photographs may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means or stored in a database or retrieval system without the written permission of the Publisher. For more information about FRANCE On Your Own ©, visit our web site at http://www.franceonyourown.com. Recommendations made in this newsletter are based upon the personal experiences of the Publishers or contributing writers solely to provide information to subscribers. Cold Spring Press and FRANCE On Your Own © make no endorsements nor are any guarantees or promises of satisfaction given or implied. Any and all information is correct to the best of our knowledge, and the Publishers accept no responsibility for errors and/or omissions. The responsibility lies entirely with the traveler to obtain current information regarding accommodations, availability, schedules, prices, reservations, or any other pertinent details. We do not guarantee the historical accuracy of the contents of articles in this newsletter. Historical accuracy is dependent upon one's sources of information -- and contradictions often exist among those sources. Links to other web sites or email addresses are provided for informational purposes only and do not imply any guarantees of service or endorsement of any organization or their business practices. FRANCE On Your Own © is electronically transmitted via email. To add your email address to our database for this FREE newsletter, send an email to info@franceonyourown.com, and please put Subscribe in the subject line. We do not share email addresses with any other organization. BACK ISSUES of the print version of FRANCE On Your Own © and Free online back issues are available on our web site at http://www.franceonyourown.com/Archives.htm. ©1997-2017 Cold Spring Press All Rights Reserved
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It's not your typical tourist Mecca but well worth the drive to search it out. Located of the A7 autoroute (Autoroute du Soleil) southeast of Lyon in the Drôme département in the sleepy village of Hauterives, it is easy to miss. In fact, there were few posted signs, and we had to stop to ask several people before we found someone who knew where it was located.

We entered a nondescript building that included a ticket counter and a gift shop, having no idea what we would see after paying the entry fee and exiting the far door into a park-like setting. I was transfixed. There in front of me stood an immense haunting and magical construction that I could never have imagined. This strange embellished palace, or temple, had grown almost organically over thirty-three years as Ferdinand Cheval slowly and painstakingly orchestrated his compelling dream.

In April of 1879, while Cheval was making his daily rounds as the village postman, he stumbled upon a strange-looking rock that he picked up an took home. This rock triggered an old dream of his to create a fantastical castle or palace, and at the age of forty-three, with his first inspirational rock, he finally began to build. Each day he collected stones as he delivered the mail. As he began to collect more stones than his pockets could hold, he carried a basket, and finally, he pushed a wheel barrow. These were sandstone rocks, hardened by the passage of time.

He diligently continued this nightly construction until his retirement at age sixty when he was finally able to devote his daytime hours, as well, to his intricate habitat, complete with his own burial tomb. When the village denied his request to be buried there, he deemed his palace complete as the age of seventy-six and spent the last eight years of his life creating an equally unusual and ornate tomb to appropriately contain his remains in the local cemetery. The hike to the cemetery is rather long. I was told it was about a kilometer away, but I think it was farther. I walked for thirty minutes, but with the afternoon hear, I never found it and returned to the car. Maybe next time.

What's so startling about this? The man had a vision and acted upon it. He never gave up though others criticized him. He had no formal training in engineering, masonry or art, yet the structure has endured and remains in excellent condition, bound together with lime, mortar and cement. You can walk into it, climb the staircases, wander through the interior labyrinth and read philosophical quotations etched into the cement walls and door frames. There are sculpted turrets, whimsical animals, mythological figures, forms from nature, embedded shells, religious and historical references from Christianity to Hinduism ~ all incorporated into the richly texture décor. Each of the four Baroque-like façades tells its own compelling story.

Le Palais Idéal is open all year, Sundays and holidays included, with the exception
of the following: Christmas Day, December 31 and January 15-31.
It is located at 8, rue du Palais, Hauterives. Outside the grounds, the Galaure River
flows by and creates a scenic park-like area for picnicking or walking.

Jo Anne Marquardt is a true francophile and travels to France as often as possible.
She keeps illustrated journals during her visits that have become the books you see below.
And note the beautiful cover artwork ~ also by a very talented Jo Anne.
Order any or all of these enjoyable travel memoires of France from Amazon.com.

The elegant Château de la Caillotière is a weekly rental property with six splendid guest rooms,
tennis, a swimming pool, a horse and pony ~ and offers you riding lessons ~ on 70 acres.
Located in the Pays de la Loire not far from Angers and Saumur, it's convenient for
visiting the royal Loire château and the charming towns along the Loire River.
And don't forget the spectacular wines and vineyards of the Loire Valley!
Click on the photo or the link above to learn more or book your stay.

Unless indicated otherwise, photos, graphics, artwork and text in the FRANCE On Your Own © newsletter are all the property of Cold Spring Press and FRANCE On Your Own © and cannot be copied, duplicated or used in any manner by anyone without the express written permission of Cold Spring Press. FRANCE On Your Own © is published online by Cold Spring Press, P O Box 26098, San Diego, California 92196-0098. This publication is copyrighted and no portions of the text, artwork, graphics or photographs may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means or stored in a database or retrieval system without the written permission of the Publisher. For more information about FRANCE On Your Own ©, visit our web site at http://www.franceonyourown.com.

Recommendations made in this newsletter are based upon the personal experiences of the Publishers or contributing writers solely to provide information to subscribers. Cold Spring Press and FRANCE On Your Own © make no endorsements nor are any guarantees or promises of satisfaction given or implied. Any and all information is correct to the best of our knowledge, and the Publishers accept no responsibility for errors and/or omissions. The responsibility lies entirely with the traveler to obtain current information regarding accommodations, availability, schedules, prices, reservations, or any other pertinent details. We do not guarantee the historical accuracy of the contents of articles in this newsletter. Historical accuracy is dependent upon one's sources of information -- and contradictions often exist among those sources. Links to other web sites or email addresses are provided for informational purposes only and do not imply any guarantees of service or endorsement of any organization or their business practices.

FRANCE On Your Own © is electronically transmitted via email. To add your email address to our database for this FREE newsletter, send an email to info@franceonyourown.com, and please put Subscribe in the subject line. We do not share email addresses with any other organization.