In the heart of Puisaye, in Yonne, Burgundy, a team of fifty people have taken on an extraordinary feat: to build a castle using the very same techniques and materials used in the Middle Ages.
The materials needed for the construction of the castle — wood, stone, earth, sand and clay — are all to be found here, in this abandoned quarry. Before the gaze of thousands of visitors, all the trades associated with castle-building: quarrymen, stonemasons, woodcutters, carpenters, blacksmiths, tile makers, basket makers, rope makers, carters and their horses are working together to complete the castle. (via)
It is not quite a return to the days when dolphins and even whales were seen making their way upstream to Paris, but the Seine is welcoming back at least one long-lost visitor: the Atlantic salmon.
A fish that in the Middle Ages abounded in the river is returning in healthy numbers after efforts to clean the polluted waters. (via)