Palais Ideal

Once in a while I like to digress from my usual quilting stuff to share really cool discoveries I’ve made; this is one.

I discovered this place in some travel documentary I saw many years ago and now and again it bubbles up into my consciousness.

This structure has been designated a National Historical Monument in France. Built by a humble postman starting in 1879, this fantastic ‘palace’ took 33 years to complete in 1912. It was the brainchild of Ferdinand Cheval, a postman who started collecting stones he found on his 18 mile delivery rounds pushing a wheelbarrow to collect and carry home the stones to build his dream castle; a task he pursued by himself with no outside help other than his dreams and own two hands.

I have seen many photographs of this palace but now with the help of You Tube, you can take a virtual tour of the monument. As you explore the stairways, terraces and hidden alcoves, bear in mind that this was built by one crazy focused genius all by himself. Just goes to show what one can do if they are passionate about their vision. Remember too, that this was built by a man with no architectural training in an era where even do-it-yourself construction manuals would have been hard to come by let alone access to the internet. I wonder if he shared a soul with Walt Disney in a past life.

If I ever get to go to France this will definitely be on my bucket list – Magnificent!


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