Everybody in France has heard of this place, but actually very few people have ever seen it. We just know that the site was created by a gentle eccentric letter carrier with strange visions in his head. It's in the Drôme, more or less between Valence and Grenoble, so I know that there is little chance that many people here will be driving around that area -- you are always driving in the Dordogne or Normandy or Provence if you dare to use French roads.
But I was delighted to finally see the "Ideal Palace" for myself last week and I could not help making a little report about it. Ferdinand Cheval actually influenced a number of major artists in the early 20th century, and he will never be forgotten.
Here is my report: http://tinyurl.com/facteurcheval
Le Palais Idéal du Facteur Cheval
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Merci, Kerouac, for yet another fascinating dimension of la France.
Did Cheval ever serve in the French Foreign Legion in Asia? He certainly channels their architectural sensibility.
merci
Kerouac: you are nothing short of amazing!! This place was completely unlnown to me, nevere even heard of it, photos are great , and thanks for this.
ALSO: thanks for the fabulous report and photos of the Festival OFF in Avignon. I have not been there since 1978! Anf, oh, boy have things changed !!
Wow! Again you open our eyes to another unique experience. It's amazing to think this postman walked 32km every day and still had time to construct something of this size and complexity. Thanks, Kerouac.
Overwhelming and, to me, gently disturbing. Seeing this gives me the same feeling as the works in the Museum of Visionary Art in Baltimore.
You never cease to amaze me with all the interesting places you show us. I would never have guessed that this would be in France!
Kerouac, I have forwarded your report to a friend of mine who also builds follies. He (Leo Lambiel) will be fascinated, as he has his own private museum on one of the San Juan Islands in Washington State. Parts of his museum are several follies which he has designed and built himself. None even approach the size and complexity of M. Cheval, but they do include a grotto, a ruined Greek temple, and a 12 foot tall crenelated castle, complete with drawbridge and portcullis that serves as his mailbox.
No one in this part of the world has ever heard of "follies", and you could not believe the fuss raised by planning commissions and other stupid varieties of State permitting authorities trying to match "follies" with building codes.
Here is a link to his museum site, in case any one might be planning a trip to Orcas Island. http://lambielmuseum.org/contact.html
That's a big "Wow!" for me.
Thanks, Kerouac.
Thanks for the Lambiel link, nukesafe.
This place has been on my bucket list for a long time. Thanks for the photos - now I know for sure I have to go there!