Issue No. 12

Gaspard de Saulx (1509–
1575) was featured in a
During the French Revolution, the façade of
the castle was defaced, later it was used as
a school for local children and then in the
1950s the family who owned it but didn’t
really rate it that much sold it to an
insurance company who left it to rot as they
just wanted the land that came with it. By
the time the state stepped in, the chateau
was in a terrible state.
ornately painted ceiling and carved fire
places and a life-sized portrait of a rather
stern looking Gaspard staring at you.
The gardens are being restored and are
lovely to wander in and this chateau is
embracing its resurrection with lots of
events in the summer.
It has these days found love from local
volunteers and that’s essential because the
funds are just not there to restore it. One of
them, Georgette, remembers visiting the
chapel there in the 1950s but says that the
key has been lost, the stairs have rotted
and no one has been in there for at least 50
years. I tried to persuade them to fetch me
a ladder but they wouldn’t!
Inside, the castle sometimes resembles a
mysterious medieval building site. Slowly
the volunteers are bringing it back to life
but it's a huge job. One of the rooms is
complete - and completely stunning.
Popping on plastic sliperettes to protect the
ancient wooden floor (and polish it at the
same time) you enter a vast room with
Website: Chateau de Pailly