Preservation Idaho staffer, Kathleen Barrett, spent a week working with an international group of volunteers on an 11th century castle site of medieval ruins. She recently submitted the following posts from Saint Victor la Coste in the south of France.

The following six entries are from her daily accounts of the experience.

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A Restoration Project in the South of France

By Kathleen Barrett

When winding through the vineyards of the Rhône Valley, I saw the vaguely reminiscent contours of le castellas, the medieval castle and its environs perched on a hill; the site of an international restoration project and my home for the next week.

To the north, I also recognized the limestone mountain, Mont Ventoux - the subject of Henri Manguin’s fauvist painting – overlooking a scrub forest, olive groves and the villages of Saint Laurent and Laudun. Mont Ventoux is also known as the Beast of Provence among some depleted Tour de France cyclists and is considered one of the most grueling climbs in the race.

Although the castle restoration was completed decades earlier, the project has continued with international volunteers engaged in clean up work, terracing and stone work. I will join others for the final week of the 2019 season – June-September. Perhaps they too are angling for an invitation for a return visit next year.

Medieval castle of le Castellas, Saint Victor la Coste, France

Tomorrow morning I will meet the other volunteers of La Sabranenque, the non-profit project named for the House of Sabran by project directors, Simone and Henri Gignoux. The couple have devoted their lives to restoring this unique village they call home. They have enlisted more than 5,000 volunteers over a 50 year period to rebuild the site, stone by stone.

What is the secret to the staying power that has kept them running for 50 years? Consider that Preservation Idaho reaches its 50 year anniversary in just a few years, due to a broad and steady mix of reinforcements: history lovers, funders, preservationists, and other advocates for heritage.

View of village from Castle - Saint Victor la Coste, France

Orientation – Day One

“Anglais ou Français?” I ask the volunteers at breakfast. Mercifully, the Korean volunteer, Yun Wan, responds in English. Besides Korean, it is her preferred language since she does not speak French. The other two – a Dutch linguist, Doreen, who translates documentaries, and a young Catalan legal aid, Martin, from Barcelona – flip easily from English to French. Jeri and directors Simone and Henri (nicknamed Gino) are only French speaking. This will prove challenging for Doreen, when we ascend the hill to view the castle and at the worksite, as she tries heroically to interpret Gino’s construction phrases/history of the region/masonry building/effects of global warming. Frequently these subjects flow furiously into one and Doreen holds her head in her hands and covers her ears. Gino and his two Australian Shepherds don’t notice and continue to head up the hill to the castle.

The limestone outcroppings are still wet from last night’s rainstorm and I climb gingerly. I realized later that Gino chose this route up the sheer face of the mountain, instead of the backside with the gradual stone pathway (one he had installed with volunteers many years ago), because he wanted us to feel the difficulty 11th century invaders experienced as they prepared to overwhelm the fortress on top of the hill. The angle of the climb was thoroughly intimidating and once inside the restored walls, the castle, the keep, the passageway, and the church, I thought I heard echoes of centuries of battles, changes in ownership, and attempts to maintain and re-fashion this historical monument.

But today was only an overview of the history of the region and the breathtaking view of the defensible valley below. We learned from Gino that it was easy for the defenders to triangulate from atop the castle and anticipate emerging armies. The steep terrain was also a deterrent.

At the Site – Day Two

Yun Wan and I were first to arrive at the terrace site since Gino was deep in a one-way conversation with the others. I followed along watching Yun Wan sort stone into three piles – small, medium and large. When Gino finally arrived with his dogs, he demonstrated the importance of positioning stones at an angle into the retaining wall to secure it from falling forward. He tumbled several stones in his bare hands measuring them with his fingers and then matched them into holes along the face of the wall. It was a bit like dentistry. From his left side, I occasionally laid down a thin layer of dry dirt and Gino filled stones I selected into empty slots. Some fit and others were tossed back into the piles we had created earlier.

Gino insisted we use our hands and heads to measure. We moved stone into slots, all the time maintaining the outer face of the wall with the smooth side of each stone exposed. It was painstaking work and undone regularly by the rooting dogs or by Gino’s own dissatisfaction.

Staging for restoring passageway to castle

I quickly noticed that there were insufficient stones for the volume of wall we were constructing. Good walls are made with substantial rock and I could see that the three heaps were becoming depleted. Later I would discover that restoration was only a small part of our education that week.

Volunteers Martin, Doreen, and Kathleen with Gino at the terraces

Terracing – Day Three

Returning to our worksite, yesterday’s work on the terrace wall seems more chaotic than when we all left for lunch. Today I am less satisfied with the work and have learned that beginning builders often create inconsistent patterns in their first walls but after time, more regularity develops.

Artist Eric Sloane says “the art of dry masonry used to be so well known that you could just look at a wall or a foundation and recognize it as the work of a particular builder.” But Gino is distracted and has other tasks for us now. He focuses on the terraces – the structures below the castle – that will hold the hillside in place, root flora and once there is moisture, help keep the hillside intact. This dry summer has been extremely punishing, as you can see from the photos. Bushes and vegetation were lost. The stone walls we are building must be strong enough to withstand wild boars and other animals tracking up and down the hillside. Will it withstand the years (perhaps centuries) to come?

At lunch today, I was heartbroken to learn that Friday, September 27th, will be the final day of Simone and Gino’s lifetime project. Their future, even where they might live in their retirement, was uncertain. The final capstone would be installed and we will bid adieu to the project and to each other. Although we were all quick to suggest a final ceremony, a candlelight celebration at the castle, a wave of Simone’s hand told us it was unnecessary. Their modesty was consistent with the simplicity of their lives and the deeper satisfaction they found in assembling diverse cultures, teaching skills and showing us the long-term value of historic preservation that we might bring to our own cultures.

Other Restoration Sites – Day Four

Kathleen, Doreen, Martin, Gino, Simone, and Pauline (not pictured: Yun Wan and Jeri)

At the table, we would begin to plan our afternoon adventures over a rich cheese & fruit plate. Orange, Avignon, Uzès and Arles figured at the top of everyone’s list due to the proximity to Saint Victor la Coste. We could easily drive, sightsee, have a gelato and return in time for dinner.

Martin’s compact Renault was limber and gas efficient and the perfect vehicle to snag a parking spot in Orange. The UNESCO Roman theatre stood out above other sites: the Ancient Roman Monumental Arch and the Museum of Art and History of Orange. I also opted for a virtual tour of the 9,000 seat capacity theatre that detailed its construction under Augustus’ reign in the 1st century.

The French celebrate two days each September as the journées Européennes du Patrimonione. I try to schedule my visits to France during this celebration of culture and heritage because many monuments, such as the Palais des Papes below, are free and open to the public.

Plaza of Palais des Papes, Avignon, France

Earlier in the week as friend and French guide, Dominique Ria, and I made our way from Nice to Saint Victor la Coste, we stopped off to visit the palais, the Pont d’Avignon to view Villeneuve-les-Avignon and the grounds of le Cimetière Avignon. I was struck to see the long line of participants patiently waiting for a turn to tour the gothic interior. Hours later, the line had doubled - notwithstanding torrential rain.

Reflections on Restoration – Day Five

As I prepared for a final work day and made my way downstairs for breakfast, I lingered for awhile in front of the little window that offered the best view of the village – one I would not forget whenever I thought of my week in Saint Victor la Coste. The window was incised from a wall below the staircase to my room and positioned on the south facing wall of the library. Yun Wan told me she donated a book on Korean calligraphy to the collection and guessed the books came from the many volunteers who spent time at La Sabrananque. Like all good libraries, it contained a wide scope of titles including Camus’ Stranger, the plays of Aeschylus, regional maps and travel guides and even a copy of Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. Earlier in the week, I spotted an intriguing title I hoped would inform my interest in stone, The Granite Kiss: Traditions and Techniques of Building New England Stone Walls. This had become my go-to source of instruction and whenever I had a pause in work intensity, I opened the pages of the kiss. I was not aware eyes were watching.

View of villages of Laudun and Saint Laurent, France

I joined fellow volunteers after lunch to walk the narrow cobblestone paths of the old village. A tangle of quince, blackberry, pear and cherry branches reached out to us. We spotted an outdoor café and nestled in. On the menu, Martin came across an apéritif, Kir, that intrigued him. We all insisted he order it in celebration – yet another of the first-hand experiences he had that week.

I could pick up enough French to understand that the locals seated nearby were wondering why tourists were still in the area. Were they not aware of La Sabrananque and the thousands of internationals that the quiet, unassuming couple, Simone and Gino, had assembled to help restore their village?

How often does a single vision, shared by two or three people, light the match that ignites restoration in cities and villages throughout the world? In my own city, it was the vision of an outside consultant that propelled a local grassroots effort to create a continuous green belt along the river that has become a beloved amenity, the Boise River Greenbelt.

Three Boise matriarchs who personified the belief that “nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world”, (from Anne Frank’s diary) on the quote wall of the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial spearheaded a drive to create the only memorial to Anne Frank and human rights in the United States.

A recent project, the Foote Park Interpretive Site, was initiated by two friends and history enthusiasts, intent on preserving the story of Arthur and Mary Hallock Foote.

Two Preservation Idaho Projects also come to mind. A dynamic duo aided by many volunteers (including junior high school students) restored a two-story sandstone building, the Bown House named after Joseph and Temperance Bown, early Oregon Trail homesteaders. More recently a few dedicated board members led the way, along with volunteers (including third graders from Whitney Elementary) and the Veterans Administration, to restore the historic sandstone structure known as the Surgeon’s Quarters at Fort Boise, the city’s first military post.

Goodbye Saint Victor – Day Six

Martin and Doreen both had their own vehicles but still made room to transport Yun Wan and me and our suitcases to Avignon in time to make our train connections. I would spend the evening in Nice and rise early for my long twelve hour airline trip home.

But before loading the cars, we enjoyed a leisurely meal with plenty of time for group photos, gifts exchanged and shared addresses. Gino gave a brief salute in French, and Simone noted the evolution of the restoration project and the coincidence that the first and final volunteer groups numbered four – each representing different countries bringing along with them their distinct languages, cultures and shared preservation efforts. This exchange, I learned, was the most important element for the Gignoux’s.

Simone poured Martin, and then all of us, a Kir Royale and placed the Granite Kiss on my plate – unexpected gifts for us. Yun Wan presented Gino with a watercolor of the village she had been working on for the past week.

Rustling trees, a sudden dip in the Autumn temperature and the Australian dogs nuzzling Gino for their afternoon walk were our signals to say goodbye and leave Simone and Gino to their ancient village and memories of les amis de la Sabranenque.

Postscript:

While in the Saint Victor area I discovered there were many restoration projects large and small. A chance meeting with a local AirBnB owner took Dominique and me to a nearby chapel that a handful of neighbors restored, Saint André de Sevanes.

There are several websites I explored before choosing La Sabrananque, but I would recommend three for anyone interested in exploring volunteer restoration projects abroad. They are:

RABALADIS

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