My lifelong dream was to own a chateau with a magnificent view and a vineyard, where I could write of course but also run my training courses and serve my wine to a captive audience.
Here are some chateaux which come close to my high demands. Give me chateaux! Give me turrets! Or, better still, give me chateaux with turrets for the ultimate retreatβ¦. Give me those stony havens of respite, where the spinning-wheel awaits Princess Aurora, where Rapunzel plaits her hair, where a poor madwoman in the attic can dream of escaping those forces which pull her apart in so many different directionsβ¦ and actually focus on the writingβ¦.
It appears that just like there are women who keep on taking on losers in the hope of changing and redeeming them, so many of us love abandoned old buildings and dream of restoring them to their former glory. Did you know there is even a name for all those websites showing pictures of houses in decay?
Ruin porn. I prefer my living spaces clean and airy, but just occasionally I succumb to the romanticism of the ruins. However, if you want to see how an Australian couple are lovingly restoring a gorgeous chateau in the south-west of France, their website and blog are a great source of inspiration. I found a lovely book at the library about the castles of the Haute-Savoie area around Geneva, each with a photo, a brief description and its often troubled history. Formerly accessible only by boat, this chateau was of strategic importance in the long-lasting battle for dominance in the area between the Duke of Savoy and the Counts of Geneva and Faucigny.
It has a literary connection too. In the 18th century, the Italian poet and dramatist Vittorio Alfieri was a guest here, together with his mistress, the Duchess of Albany wife of Bonnie Prince Charlie.
