Years in the Making

It takes nearly a thousand years to make a medieval ruin, but it's only been 16 years so far in the making of a medieval castle in remote Burgundy, called Guédelon. And it's been 8 years exactly in the making of our youngest, who celebrates her birthday at what turns out to be perhaps the most interesting construction site in the world.

 

 

At Guédelon, they're not only building a medieval-style castle, they're building it using only medieval materials, tools, and methods. That means some horse-power, and a lot of man-power. There are a few concessions to modern life: hard-hats when necessary, steel-toe boots at all times, safety goggles for the stone cutters, indoor plumbing for bathroom breaks, and maggot-free food.

 

 

 

We highly recommend visiting here if you're in Burgundy and/or can spare a (long) day or (easy) weekend from Paris. Definitely do the guided tour, which is offered in English or French, because it makes a huge difference. It turns out that building this castle isn't just educational for the visitors, it's quite enlightening for the builders as well. There are several facts that blow my mind. Among them is a discussion of the mortar, and the importance of burning the lime at medieval (not modern) temperatures. It turns out it remains moist and malleable longer, allowing necessary shifting and settling -- without cracking -- as heavy layers are added on top. How much longer? Well, at a recent renovation at the Roman arena at Nîmes, access to a dark spot deep in the interior showed that after 2000 years the mortar still isn't completely dry. Another: the string our guide is showing us in the photo below has regularly-spaced knots and can be used to do math necessary for construction sites, including multiplication and perfect angles. I get really excited to learn that the word "multiply" actually comes from this tool -- multi (many) and ply (fold) -- at which point Anthony reminds me, once again, that I am a huge dork. 

 

 

Below you can see what happens to people who call me a huge dork. And to the parents of teenagers. Just look at how happy it makes the kids we are traveling with to put their mom in the stocks.

 

 

 

Also on Guédelon's grounds is some of the livestock needed to make a castle. Because it takes a village. And a village's livestock.

 

 

There are many, many more animals -- the pettable, non-heading-butting variety -- at the farm of the nearby castle of St. Fargeau. The owner of that castle is the same individual who had the brilliantly crazy idea to build Guédelon, the medieval castle, in the first place. 

 

 

  

 

 

And if you're spending the night over a summer weekend, we also recommend the late-night spectacle at St. Fargeau castle, with its cast of 500-800 (!) volunteer performers.

 

 

 

Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men? If you do, that's because it's the French revolution being depicted. But it's not Les Miserables, nor is it miserable -- just a little cold and late (10pm-midnight) for the little ones.

 

The show is over a thousand years in the making as well, since it goes way back before the revolution, beginning in the Middle Ages, then proceeds to portray an overview of French history to modern times -- with the notable exceptions of Napoleon and the Vichy government. First we see soldiers trudging off slowly and sadly to die in Flanders Fields in World War I, and suddenly, Jeeps are roaring in, flying the American flag, to liberate France after World War II. Though I'm generally not a big fan of whitewashing history, I have to admit that seeing a bunch of Jews rounded up and sent to Death Camps would've pretty much killed the festive atmosphere, and I'm personally quite glad they skipped it. Instead, they usher in the present day -- and coincidentally Pippa's birthday -- with fireworks, and everybody goes to bed happy.