The mayor's "Le Village" brochure points out this house, along with our neighbor's across the Calade, was on either side of one gate that led into the village. (The other gate was beneath the clock tower.) Our own wall shows an indentation where the spine of the gates used to be!
Dad created a floor plan of our castle and discovered the walls facing Place de la Fontaine are ~2 feet thick: significantly wider than the Calade side. We surmise this may have been for fortification, as the Fontaine side of our castle would have formed part of the exterior village walls!
I recently met with a villager, Pierre, who loves studying the history of Vers. He lives near us on rue de Bourrian ("Bourg Riant"). Although he was born/raised in Aix-en-Provence, studied/lived in Paris, then returned to Vers relatively recently, his family has been in this village since the Middle Ages! Part of his background is in architecture and he was thrilled to see the interior of Le Muguet. He was very impressed by its construction - and renovation.
Unfortunately, he couldn't confirm some "facts" about our castle. Does it date from the 17th century? "Probably earlier." Was it part of the old monastery? "More likely belonged to a wealthy man." Pierre's now retired but remembered, as a child, a couple lived here who made chairs and other furniture. While in the salon, he noted the indented bookcase and the fireplace were probably "added later" - only a couple hundred years old?! We also studied the ceiling near the front door and wondered if it had been separated by a wall from the rest. No doubt, over the past 400 to 500 years, our castle has seen many changes.
Also of note: the spring water running under the building is labeled "non-potable" for legal reasons. It's as clean as it gets!
Turns out, Pierre wrote "Le Village" brochure! He also mentioned a book on Vers history that may be sold in the Tabac: if not, available in the library. More research!"
Lisa Chardonnet
(Locals have trouble with my last name, beginning with an "E,"so I'm adopting the name of some French friends while in the country.)
September 2011
CLICK TO READ ORIGINAL TEXT
Oregon Sandcastles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
