A decade of love and A decade of love and renovation I’ve followed the fascinating story of the restoration of the Château de Gudanes for ten years now, since a French friend who lives in Ariège emailed me about “a crazy Australian lady who is trying to restore a castle, an epic task, but oh you should see the castle – it’s dazzling.” I contacted Karina and she agreed that I could share her story. It quickly became clear just how incredible her lifelong goal to restore the building was. The story went viral, capturing the imaginations of millions, and Karina has won a legion of fans who follow the castle’s journey via her Instagram page, a best-selling book and her website: Châteaugudanes.com You can hear my interview with Karina on The Good Life France podcast And when Karina got permission to run workshops for paying guests, I was thrilled to be able to see the castle for real. The utterly gorgeous Château de Gudanes Driving up to the now world-famous approach to the Château de Gudanes, we entered through the grand front doors on a rather gloomy day, clouds hung low, almost caressing the roof and towers of the castle. Edith Piaf’s haunting voice rang out “Je ne regrette rien.” I had goosebumps. The original castle that stood here dates to the 13th century but much of it was rebuilt between 1741 and 1750 by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, architect to King Louis XIV (his creations include the Petit Trianon at Versailles and the Bourse in Bordeaux). The owner of the The hall “If you have ever considered culinary tourism, Goût et Voyage will be the trip of your dreams. Excellence at every turn!” DS, NY castle one Louis Gaspard de Salles, Marquis de Gudanes, head of Toulouse Parliament, nicknamed the "King of the Pyrenees" because he had an enormous fortune from his ownership of iron mines in Ariège, was responsible for its beauty. ‘I like to think that the Marquis was walking along the corridors of Versailles and bumped into Gabriel and said to him ‘hey can you come and soup up my grandfather’s medieval castle’ and that’s how he came on board and turned it from a rather dour building to a pleasure palace of beauty and elegance.” The castle’s fortunes after the French Revolution were never so good. Sold on several times, it became a school camp in the 1950s, was bought by a business conglomerate and then became the Waters family home. The castle had 94 rooms, and all were in a bad way. In the music room, giant mushrooms were growing up the walls on which real 18 carat gold leaf had once been used to gild A Taste of Provence. © Exquisite, all-inclusive, small group tours. www.goutetvoyage.com 12 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 13
