It is not sure that such a story would happen today. Ferdinand Cheval was inspired, on his own, and made his dream come true, heaping up stones, without any model, without any exchange, with nothing but the observation of a few postcards, coming from all over the world, which he had distributed during his interminable round in the Drôme countryside.
It took him more than thirty years to build his masterpiece and we can easily think that this man was never bored. With strange shaped stones, fossils and sand, over twelve meters large, twenty-six meters long and fourteen meters high, he has shown all of humanities’ masterpieces: Oriental palaces, medieval castles, Hindu temples, Swiss chalet…
He pierced with caverns and galleries, with representations of Adam and Eve, Archimedes, Vercingètorix and here and there, naïve maxims he wrote to clearly express the inspiration of the realisation of his laborious work. I finally found what I was looking for, digging for forty years to shape out of the earth this fairy palace. For my ideals, my body suffered, braving the weather, criticisms and years .
This unclassifiable work, unique in the world will make you shiver; it is one of the jewels of Rhône-Alpes. Andrè Breton the surrealists’ leader, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Nikki de Saint-Phalle were all carried away by this work. The legend of the unbelievable postman was born.
The site is regularly highlighted, For the third consecutive year, you will be able to assist in Jazz, Gospel, Blues, gipsy guitar concerts, as well as a Rhoda Scott evening and a homage to Brassens. Later on, in July, the fantastic show Eveil d’un Songe , (the awakening of a dream) will liven up gardens and façades in total symbiosis with this stunning place.
Le Palais Idèal du Facteur Cheval belongs to the town of Hauterives since 1994.
Tel. : 04 75 68 81 19
Office du Tourisme d’Hauterives Tel. : 04 75 68 86 82
www.facteurcheval.com
Jazz au Palais takes place from June 29th to July 1st with an ideal tasting-session : Before the show you will be offered a glass of Crozes-Hermitage wine by the producers.
Eveil d’un songe an imaginary tour around the Palais idèal , a theatrical, visual and with sound effects creation of a Design Parade &
Show, Every Friday and Saturday at 21h30 from July 21st to August 19th 2006.
7 euros per adult and 5 euros for children between 6 to 16 years old.
The Palais Idèal du Facteur Cheval responsible, already pay great attention to welcoming all kind of people but, nevertheless, they would like to do more and go beyond the usual standards.
Since March 2006, the Palais Idèal du Facteur Cheval has undertaken the necessary procedures to get the Tourisme et Handicap label in order to really enhance the value of the different stages they have passed to facilitate the
accessibility to handicapped persons. Getting this label from the State will reinforce the reliability and the services offered to everybody and for everybody.
