Château Shopping (no. 8)

Feb 28

A day in Provence

If we have learned anything about French real estate during our lockdown Château shopping, it is - Beware of too good to be true pricing! - Over and over I come upon listings with a price-point that seems too low for the area. Upon inspection of the photographs I scratch my head, lean back in my chair, and with a look of distrust on my face, I quietly whisper… “what’s wrong?” Most likely those photographs were taken a foot to the left of the freeway speeding right next to the Château, or a foot to the right of the mass of apartment buildings built on the land beside the Château that the owners previously sold off, or a foot above the mold, rot, and ruins. Photographed slightly out of focus, and just beside or above the worst of it, a property can shine!

With all of this acknowledged we were off to Provence. To view a property that we knew was in rough condition, and in truth that is what we love!! but the price was really low for the area… why? This Château has incredible moments of decaying beauty that are hard not to fall in love with. Tania- You would spend days with your camera in this one!!! The owner showed us around and the amount of love and passion she has for it and her family history pulls at your heartstrings. However, the chateau has not been inhabited for more than ten years, and the 1980’s and 90’s were not kind to it. This castle is one of those that started as a single building that was added onto, and added onto, and added onto through the ages. The oldest section having Templar carvings above the location of former windows which now reside on an inside wall of a later addition. The last part to be built is the most beautiful and intriguing, but at some time in the very recent past the owners decided to break up all of the older sections into very cheaply appointed apartments. Plastering inexpensive plastic products and wall board over ancient, crumbling, and damp stone walls is a complete setup for disaster! But the worst part is the removal of all original interiors leaving virtually nothing of beauty of the past. Add to that that every other building and structure on the property, barns, wine cave, and the “I am not sure what they were used for”, are in complete, disastrous ruins.

We could almost look beyond this destruction and get excited about recreating the past… I mean we were in Provence for gods sake!… Or were we?
We usually receive the actual address for a property we are about to view just hours before we are to arrive. And although the Château is officially located in Provence - I called it Provence adjacent - we were right on the western edge in what is called the Camargue. The Camargue is a river delta, a wetland, a marsh, and does not have the graceful appearance what comes to mind when thinking “Provence”, in this case think… Florida! Miles and miles of flat, reedy, and very moist land. The area is famous for growing rice, bird watching (actual sanctuaries that you pay to go and… watch birds), horseback riding, and a seaside town that Phillip referred to as a French version of Asbury Park - the kitsch factor was over the top!!!

The Château sits a couple of football fields off of the only road heading to the sea. The traffic on the road was moderate to light on the Thursday we visited, but I can only imagine the bumper to bumper situation that would present itself during “Season” as thousands and thousands of people take their children to see birds, ride horses, and get ice cream, and French corn dogs in town… No offense to those that have them, but… “Children… Children” everywhere and more and more on the way as summer approaches. We do not have a child friendly establishment in mind when we think of what we are looking for. Lets face it, suddenly the frivolity and fun stops, and everything becomes about the children, add to that… children destroy things! LOL

Below are photographs of the Château in Provence, I have left out the photographs of the ruined apartments as they were just too disheartening!