Palais Ideal (a perfect one-day trip from Vaucluse to Drôme)

It's a fantastic, somewhat magical place. The feeling it evokes is similar to that experienced when visiting any of Gaudí's creations. You seem to touch someone's genius, a fantastical realized dream, and at the same time, you touch the subconscious of a person bordering on madness.

So, in brief:

✨️Cheval found an unusually shaped stone whose beauty and form astonished him. Upon researching the area's history, he discovered that it was once the seabed, meaning these stones are millions of years old.

✨️He took this as a sign that any dream can come true despite everything. His dream was a palace. From that day, he began collecting stones for construction while studying the architecture of different countries and eras.

✨️Upon retirement, he had a garden filled with stones. There, he started building his palace: from stones, cement, and wire—every day, sometimes at night, for 33 years.

✨️ You can find motifs from the Middle East, China, Algeria, with quite a bit of Gaudí's influence. The castle's walls feature inscriptions: quotes from Jesus, Buddha, scenes from various legends, books, cultures, and myths. Miniature depictions of temples, fountains, and towers...

There is also his quote on the wall: 💬 "It doesn't matter your age or what you seek to achieve. As long as you are brave, resilient, and willing to work hard, you will surely succeed."

On the facade, there is an inscription:

"This building is the work of one man"

and another:

"10,000 days, 93,000 hours, 33 years"

• as a reminder that dreams can and should be built with one's own hands.

So, you may think of him as a genius or a madman, but in the city where so much of his faith and energy is concentrated, you realize the truth:

Humans are capable of (almost) anything. And even with small "stones," you can pave the way to your dream 🙌