3 Extraordinary French Cultural Contributions Hiding in Plain Sight

If you’re willing to get off the beaten path in France to rediscover childlike wonderment, then write down the names of these three lesser-known French artists and explorers.
Joseph Ferdinand Cheval, Robert Coudray and Robert de Joly. Every one of these men transformed a lifelong obsession into something amazing and made their dreams available to all of us as a reminder that not all things of exceptional beauty are found in museums. The legacy of these men is a trio of must-see sights in three, small, out-of-the way villages.
Le Palais Idéal du Facteur Cheval, Hauterives, Drôme
In 1879, 43 year-old (Joseph) Ferdinand Cheval (1836-1924), a mailman in the Drôme, came upon a large, oddly shaped stone. He picked it up and took it home. His dream of building a massive fantastical palace that would satisfy his need to create started with that one rock. Every day on his 27-mile mail route he collected more stones and for the next 33 years used them to build rooms, towers, staircases, giant sculptures, tunnels and replicas of famous buildings until his monument-to-a-dream was the size of a true palace. He sculpted creatures of the sea, land and sky, quizzical round faces and throughout the structure etched his philosophy of life into stone plaques.
Homemade, tree-limb scaffolding allowed him to build higher and higher, drawing the attention, often negative, of his neighbors in his little village of Hauterives. He persevered and at the age of 76 completed his “outsider art” masterpiece. His neighbors were not the only ones who noticed Cheval’s Gaudi-like achievement. Famous modern artists have visited and drawn inspiration from his dream castle including Pablo Picasso, Nikki de Saint Phalle, Max Ernst and André Breton. In 2018, the film L’Incroyable Histoire du Facteur Cheval, starring Jacques Gambin, the story of Ferdinand Cheval’s labor of love, was released into theaters. The drive to the Palais Idéal is a picturesque 36-minute drive from Tournon-sur-Rhône, Ardèche. Advance tickets are recommended.

Musée des Carrières de Bretagne, Lizio, Morbihan
Whimsical. Other-worldly. Inspiring. Seussian. A modern artistic pas de deux with trash. How do you describe a French countryside village made completely of discarded items? Robert Coudray (1954 -), le Poète Ferrailleur (The Iron Poet) does it with flair. His Musée des Carrières de Bretagne has been described as art unclassifiable. A full-sized, walkable town made from old bicycles, antique cars, machine cogs, discarded sheet metal, mannequin parts, wine bottles, fifty-gallon drums – a mind-boggling array of what other people have thrown away. Many of the displays are motorized and movement is part of the experience. A circus clown balances on a high-wire overhead while you wander down a pathway that leads to a pond in which a boy in a boat is fishing. Which way to look? What next? The array of multistory tilted buildings do give the feeling of walking through a Dr. Seuss phantasmagoria. A true Renaissance Man, Coudray began assembling his kinetic art village in Lizio, Brittany, twenty-five years ago and he continues to expand on his dream project. Included in the collection of colorfully articulated structures are interactive games and a museum within a museum of operational mechanical wonderments – carousels, airplanes, pirate ships and creations that defy description. You will also find inscribed original poems peppered throughout The Iron Poet’s village. To spend time with Robert Coudray’s vision is to be reminded of Cheap Trick’s song “Dream Police”. Once you’ve seen it you won’t forget it. It will live inside of your head. He has even made a film about his pursuit of this beautiful and bizarre art form, viewing of which is included with admission. The Musée is a 50-mile drive from Dinan all of which is along narrow backroads (the drive is as much fun as the Musée!). Tickets can be purchased online.
Grotte d’Aven d’Orgnac, Ardèche
Robert de Joly (1887 – 1968) is probably the best known of the three men featured in this article. Unlike Cheval and Coudray, who used tangible material in their art, de Joly’s medium was the act of discovery. De Joly was a speleologist, a cave scientist. His most notable work was done between the two World Wars but his involvement in advocating for cave preservation continued until his death at age 80. In 1935, de Joly led a group of speleologists to the village of Orgnac-l’Aven where he had heard that shepherds had long used an open chasm as a dumping ground for dead livestock. Using his own invention, a lightweight portable steel-cable ladder, he descended into the sinkhole and discovered what is today considered one of the most beautiful caves in France, Aven d’Orgnac. An “aven” is a vertical cave opening into which speleologists and spelunkers descend to explore the inner depths of the earth. De Joly wanted Aven D’Orgnac to be accessible to more than just the daring and he pushed the Orgnac-l’Aven village leaders, the legal owners of the cave, to make it a show cave. It is now a popular, but not overrun, attraction. A modern visitors center is the gateway to a guided walking tour that descends deep into the public portion of the cave. Entertaining and informative guides lead groups through galleries of giant stalagmites and stalactites, many of which are still growing drip-by-drip. The one hour walk meanders down a long series of steep steps to different platforms where new wonders are revealed by the guide. The spirit of Robert de Joly, both figuratively and literally, never leaves the cavernous space. A mannequin Robert de Joly is perpetually suspended by a steel cable at the original entrance to the aven through which he first entered and near the end of the tour, tucked far away on a ledge, is a ceramic urn bearing his ashes. An elevator returns visitors to the surface. Because of its unique beauty and grandeur, Aven d’Orgnac has been declared a Grand Site Of France. Aven d’Orgnac is approximately a 30-minute drive from either Uzès or Avignon. The drive will take you through picturesque farms and forests. Advanced purchase of tickets is advised.
The key to discovering “beauty hiding in plain site”, like the three mentioned here, is to travel away from larger population centers and take a ride on the little D-Routes that lead you into the smaller villages. A bit of research will identify where ordinary people have created, discovered and preserved their own unique contributions to the greater beauty of l’Hexagon.

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