The Good Life France Magazine




The Good Life France Magazine brings you the best of France - inspirational and exclusive features, fabulous photos, mouth-watering recipes, tips, guides, ideas and much more...


Published by the award winning team at The Good Life France

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Summer 2023

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  • Medieval villages
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  • Best france holidays
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  • Paris
  • Provence
Chock-full of fantastic features and stunning photographs. You'll find inspiring, entertaining & informative destination features - French Riviera, Provence, Loire Valley, Mont-Saint-Michel, Alpine villages and secret places, recipes from French foodie legends, culture and history and much, much more... Bringing France to you wherever you are!

Pierrefonds chapel

Pierrefonds chapel Pierrefonds interior Enter Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, the must-have architect of the age, who was passionate about the medieval period and had travelled widely in Italy and France with his friend Prosper Mérimée, then inspector of historic monuments. Mérimée entrusted his travel companion with the restoration of important religious and civic buildings including the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, and the walled city of Carcassonne. Pierrefonds was to be his last, and arguably most imaginative project. Viollet-le-Duc began work at Pierrefonds in 1857, but to modern standards, his idea of restoration is somewhat controversial. ‘Restoring a building is not maintaining, repairing or redoing it,’ he declared. ‘It’s restoring it to a complete state that may never have existed at a given time.’ In the process, he wasn’t beyond removing original features. So rather than an authentic medieval rebuild, the Château de Pierrefonds we see today is Viollet-le-Duc’s idea of how he felt a castle from the Middle Ages should look. Fanciful it may be, but his work had a hugely positive influence on public interest in historic monuments, and his illustrated books on architecture would be used by generations of architects to come. So as I walk up through the park on a sunny summer day beneath eight soaring white towers, I’m not surprised to see a carved figure adorning each one. Not medieval knights though, but famous warrior kings from across the centuries including David and Joshua, Caesar, Alexander the Great, and King Arthur. Step into the inner courtyard and the style changes again. I’m no architect but I do know a Renaissance window when I see one, although I’ve never seen rooftops embellished with stone cats before, a nod to Viollet-le- Duc’s own cat who kept him company while he worked. If you have young ones with you, download the children’s activity booklet and complete the puzzles with Théobald the cat as your guide. Whichever way I turn, I spot another eye-catching feature. Three giant stone salamanders with gaping mouths embellish blank walls, whilst an equestrian statue of Louis I of Orléans stands by the grand staircase that leads to the main entrance. Inside there are more surprises. The castle’s permanent exhibition presents decorative pieces from the Monduit workshops, famous for their sheet metal work, which features here at Pierrefonds. And on the chapel gate, Viollet-le-Duc is depicted in pilgrim’s clothing, accompanied by Louis of Orléans and his wife Valentine Visconti of Milan. In medieval times, the castle keep would have contained the apartments of the ruling family, the last retreat in the event of a siege. At Pierrefonds, you can expect lavish decoration around the walls ranging from carved animals and plants to symbols of the Empire. And as the last word in 19th century home comforts, you’ll even find flushing toilets. The castle cellars date back to the 14th century but the vaults were rebuilt in the 19th century and it is here that I find Le Bal des Gisants, one of the most unexpected exhibits at Pierrefonds. A gisant is a recumbent statue usually found on tombs and this collection of replicas was commissioned by King Louis Philippe to pay tribute to an eclectic collection of figures who had brought glory to France across the centuries, including Louis d’Orléans, builder of Pierrefonds. Originally kept at Versailles, the gisants are now kept here, atmospherically displayed beneath moving coloured lights against a soundtrack of whispered poems Viollet-le-Duc’s fanciful interpretation of the Middle Ages may not please visitors who come to Pierrefonds hoping for a true-life medieval experience, but I loved it. Not authentic for sure, but quirky, imaginative and beautiful in its own unique way. Pierrefonds was one of several European castles that inspired Walt Disney for classic tales such as Sleeping 80 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 81