French entrepreneur proves Labour folly

George W. Bush once hilariously said that the French don’t have a word for entrepreneur. That wasn’t meant as a joke, but it worked as one famously, while also providing a strong argument for IQ testing of all presidential candidates.

It’s true that businessmen aren’t held in as high esteem in France as they are in the US or even Britain. But they do exist, and the one I know personally shows how much any country needs such people.

I mean the kind of people whom Labour is busily trying to drive out of Britain, and good riddance to bad rubbish. So enterprising chaps, tens of thousands of them, up sticks and go, taking with them their capital, the jobs and tax revenue they create and, above all, their talent for improving the local communities.

Our neighbour in France, Michel Guyot, is living proof of what can happen to a place when entrepreneurs move in, not out. In 1977, Michel and his brother Jacques, both penniless, made a bold move.

For a token price of one franc they bought the Château de Saint-Fargeau, a 17^th-century Renaissance castle down the road from us. Built for the Grande Mademoiselle, a cousin of Louis XIV, the château wasn’t exactly derelict when the brothers bought it, but as near as damn. The deal was that they would restore it to its past glory, a project bound to take years and millions.

The local councils chipped in, but most funds came from the brothers’ tireless fund-raising. Little by little, they restored the château, displaying not only business and administrative acumen but also good taste.

As parts of the castle came back to life, the Guyots opened them to the public. Tourists began to flock in – this though the nearest train station is 15 miles away, and the nearest airport 100.

By 2000, when we moved into the area, the money brought by tourists had begun to trickle down, with Saint-Fargeau showing signs of a recent makeover. By then Jacques had gone on to develop other ancient properties, but Michel remained hands-on.

At about that time, he found a way not only to keep the restoration money coming in, but also to turn the château into a national attraction. Putting his fecund imagination to work, Michel started two projects that showed he could think on a grand scale.

He created in the château grounds a son et lumière (‘sound and light’) show, reenacting the 1,000-year history of Saint-Fargeau, through Joan of Arc, the Revolution and the Second World War.

Referred to as le spectacle, the production is indeed spectacular. It involves over 700 actors, 50 horses, batteries of cannon and even Sherman tanks. Lit up by searchlights, the show lasts two hours, during which the spectators watch jousts, cavalry attacks, infantry battles, tank raids and victory celebrations. The end of the show is announced by a midnight cannonade reverberating for miles.

The spectacle is advertised all over France, including Paris, and people respond with alacrity. Rivulets of tourists turn into a mighty stream, and the local hotels, cafés and restaurants flourish. Saint-Fargeau itself, public buildings and private residences alike, has lost much of its slightly dilapidated look.

The village has perked up noticeably but, amazingly, without letting mass tourism turn it into a vulgar mini-Disneyland. The place wears better clothes now, but they aren’t gaudy, and the old dignity hasn’t been compromised by the new-found wealth.

It’s not just the château and its spectacle either. For some 25 years ago, Michel embarked on another project, another testimony to his restless intelligence.

He bought an abandoned quarry a few miles from Saint-Fargeau and hired a team of 50 builders and artisans to perform an extraordinary feat: to build a medieval castle using the same techniques and materials as in the Middle Ages. The wood, stone, earth, sand and clay needed for the construction of the Guédelon castle all come from the same quarry or thereabouts.

If the spectacle is held only from mid-July to late August, Guédelon attracts thousands of visitors throughout the year. They come in droves to watch period-costumed artisans at work: quarrymen, stonemasons, woodcutters, carpenters, blacksmiths, tile makers, basket makers, rope makers, carters with their horses – they all ply their trades in an impressive show of archaic craftsmanship.

A gimmick? Of course it is. But it’s done tastefully, with a minimum of kitsch. Both Guédelon and the spectacle are also instructive, especially for children, who always make up a good part of the visitors.

And speaking of instructiveness, Michel Guyot has also created a model farm down the road from the château, and it too has been drawing in large groups of visitors, mostly children. They learn that bacon doesn’t start out in rashers, nor bread in loaves.

Since I’m no longer a child, my knowledge of the farm is strictly hearsay, for I’ve never bothered to visit it in 25 years. But rows of cars, coaches and school buses always parked outside, especially in summer, testify to the project’s success.

I’ve seen similar undertakings elsewhere turning the surrounding area into a contiguous theme park. But I can testify that Saint-Fargeau and other villages around us haven’t paid for their new wealth with their soul. I don’t know whether this is due to the soul’s resilience or to Michel’s taste, but one way or the other the new money hasn’t destroyed the old charm.

Ever since Russia’s full-scale assault on the Ukraine in 2022, the portal of the Château de Saint-Fargeau has been adorned with the Ukrainian flag. This shows where Michel Guyot’s heart is – always in the right place.