The best walks and hikes around Manthes

April 1879. Ferdinand Cheval, then a 43-year-old rural postman, stumbled upon a stone so bizarre during his rounds that it sparked a dream. A true autodidact, he dedicated 33 years of his life to building a dream palace in his vegetable garden, inspired by nature, postcards, and the first illustrated magazines he distributed. For his rounds in the countryside, he traveled about 30 kilometers each day, collecting stones with the help of his trusty wheelbarrow. Alone, misunderstood, he inscribed "the work of a man" on his monument. His dream palace was completed in 1912.

I have seen it several times and it is truly a unique monument 🙂

Unique in the world, the Palais Idéal has inspired artists for over a century. Independent of any artistic movement, built without any architectural rules, the Palais Idéal was admired by the Surrealists. In 1969, it was classified as a Historic Monument by André Malraux, then Minister of Culture, as a work of naive art.

magnificent poetic garden where it is good to take your time, to wander and read the little quotes on the stones

An incredible tourist magnet in Hauterives. Large parking spaces on site and €9 entry. The small castle is something special that you don't see every day. A postman built it from stones and shells that he discovered on his errands around 1870 and worked on it for over 30 years. There is even a small museum and a brochure for mobile phones in German. 👍🏰🤳

The patronage of this place of worship “Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption” refers to one of the many memorial or festival days in honor of Mary, Mother of God. This goes back to the festival of her physical assumption into heaven. The (Catholic) Church celebrates this festival annually on August 15th. In the Orthodox churches the feast is called the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. In rural areas of Germany with a predominantly Catholic population, it used to be customary for bundles of herbs to be collected by the population on this special day and blessed in a festive service. This old custom has occasionally survived to this day.

This path in the Mantaille forest is very bucolic. The forest once belonged to the lords of Mantaille who came to hunt there. Take advantage of this beautiful natural setting and perhaps you will have the chance to come across a deer.

This place is the story of a postman, Joseph Ferdinand Cheval, who in 1873 and for the following 33 years, built a dream palace in his vegetable garden. He picked up stones during his rounds with his wheelbarrow. Alone, he imagines an ideal palace, where you will find elephants, caimans, pelicans, bears, birds and many other curiosities. This unique place in the world has inspired many artists. Classified in 1969 as a Historic Monument, you can visit this place all year round. Information is available here:factorcheval.com/infos-pratiques