What a high

It was a perfect day for visiting a chateau. I think the whole of France has been covered with this blanket of rain, so we didn’t waste anytime in running up the steps and through the arch, so that Brian could get his shot.

The castle of Saint-Fargeau dates back to the 10th century, in somewhat different forms. The first castle was just a fortified hunting lodge, and as the area is still covered in forest you can understand why. Over the years there have been a couple of fires, which have destroyed parts, if not the bulk of its structure. In 1979 Michel Guyot bought the castle, and started a period of some quite incredible renovation.

We entered into a fabulous hallway, with a magnificent, sweeping staircase, which we were soon to learn had been completely reconstructed.

There was a whole section of rooms in various stages of renovation that we could wander through. Some were dressed to show off what they may have been used for, others were little exhibitions, displaying boards showing the renovations that had been completed, or in some cases still in progress.

The roof was one of the completed renovations, and it’s quite spectacular. Fortunately we were able to see it up close later in the tour.

The hunting hall was next, with a large display area of the many trophies, horns and photographs from the earlier occupants of the castle.

The self guided tour, which we had chosen, took us up some back stairs to a room full of the owners toy collection. It was delightful looking at all the old wooden, and tin toys. He obviously had a passion for trains, as he had a vast collection of them, which included a selection by Hornby with some still in their cardboard boxes.

From here we saw a sign to ‘charpentre’, which we both thought meant carpentry, but we later realised, as we climbed the stairs to the top of the house, that it means ‘framework’. It was describing the wooden framework of the attic, which is absolutely amazing. We were guided around the whole of the castle attic, effectively walking around the inside of the castle roof. What a wonderful high to end on.