It is National Patrimony Weekend. All sorts of places are open to the public that are usually closed.
We head off to visit to a 68 bedroom 13th century castle. Too big for use as a family home it was run as an ever less grand hotel until it closed in 2001. Now in a state of ever more glorious dereliction it is the haunt of Class A drug dealers from Toulouse. A fire has burnt down the stable block. The family that own it try to keep it standing but something this size needs a Jeff Bezos budget. What can be done with it ?
Onto a fortified medieval village. We park in the deserted square by a strangely shaped house with a double story entry way. What, if anything, would have been stored there ?
A little arcaded 12th century village house being renovated. No architectural purity here. The windows have been reduced in size by the insertion of three layers of floor tiles and plastic framed windows are being fitted. The external plaster has fallen off where the electricians have put in new ducting.
The village church - no bigger than a hut - has a surprise in store. A flamboyant 16th century altar screen. Baroque on acid. Quite out of proportion.
On our way out of the church we meet the Chatelaine of the local castle. She scurries across the street and invites us over. The building now a bare whisper of its pre-revolutionary size - but still enormous. The staircase is made of alabaster and as theatrical as a Cecil B. De Mille film set. It's carved with a delicacy that takes our breath away. The owner is completely batty ( in a grumpy type of way ), probably impoverished and lives in one huge room with painted ceilings and a four poster bed in the corner. There is no sign of plumbing. How I wish I'd taken some photos. She's invited us back.
Lovely shots of the Northern Lights and some Sunday Scottish fiddle playing :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMc7RFj25qw
6 comments:
I bet the double height entry is to let light into first floor rooms and it was originally an open courtyard.
Eagerly awaiting the next visit to the castle with the theatrical staircase and the batty owner!
Thank you for the link, which was very timely, as I see it was filmed up near Aberdeen. My son recently added the University of Aberdeen to his list along with St. Andrews. We'd read that you can sometimes see the Northern Lights there, but I don't think he really understood what that means until he saw this clip.
Are there no regulations regarding restoration of such an old building? Plastic windows seem a horrible eyesore.
On this weekend I would like to visit the home in the first picture! The home with the Pon guarding in front of it. I do not recall seeing a picture of this home from this angle. Lovely!
I saw the Lights one night when the entire sky was red, so that I thought there must be a huge fire nearby. But i've never before seen that color in any of the videos. Lovely fiddling.
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