Royal Military College Thiron-Gardais - teaching the art of war.

At last, a historian who puts his money where his mouth is. One of the most popular (and my favourite) French history documentary presenters and authors is Stephane Bern. He has restored The Royal Military Collège at Thiron-Gardais, a commune in the Eure-et-Loir area.

This former 17th century collège had fallen into a bad state and the local municipality asked the State for help. The State approached Bern as he is well- known for promoting the saving of French heritage. He purchased this property in 2013 and set to work engaging artisans to restore  it with the intention of using the main building as his private property, and the military classrooms to be turned into a museum dedicated to the 11 royal and military collèges. It's a unique property which includes the gardens, the college, and Thiron Abbey which is 900 years old. Restoration took two years and considerable resources.

The aim of the collèges, founded by Louis XVI, was to educate the sons of poor noblemen, to prepare them for life and military service, so essentially they were preparatory schools before their graduates went to study further at Paris and later St Cyr. Napoléon Bonaparte went to one of the other military colleges after leaving Corsica but this one seems to have enjoyed success too, Located in the bucolic Perche countryside it was far enough away from civilised tempations to keep the students on site and focussed. Winter weather would have frozen any boy trying to opt out or have naughty trysts.

Parents had to supply quite a list of clothing and equipment for the boarders (see photo). The Revolution put an end to the college's activities. It was later sold to the State, saw several vicissitudes before being rescued by Bern. Happily, between him and the State and the commune, funds were enough to do a full restoration, including 600m2 of roof and 36,000 roof tiles aged to look, well, aged. The roof framing was done without nails or screws, using the old techniques,

The sequoia tree in the front of the property is older than 250 years. It lost 15 m height in the infamous tempest of 1999 but is still keeping on and is still impressive.

The residence is not open to the public but the museum has some interesting information and a reconstructed classroom.

I imagine Stéphane Bern would have created beautiful interiors in this residence, though it's probably not his principal one, He's certainly an expert on them. The extensive gardens are but a shadow of what they were in the middle ages but are still pleasant to stroll.

It's all a bit different to the usual tourist site and quite relaxed. There is an audioguide system but the batteries weren't reliable during our visit so we just amused ourselves as we explored the offerings.

The abbey next door is in a bad way and it's hard to see how enough money can be raised in order to save it. It has some rather interesting old wood mouldings and carvings but pretty much everything needs fixing/replacing.

As I walked over the entrance and through a very ancient door I could smell the centuries of decay. It was all rather sad and I was reminded that so many heritage sites are decaying and there's not enough money to save what is left. Many wonderful things were destroyed in the 17th and 18th centuries, while other were damaged or destroyed in world wars. This village is a wee bit off the beaten track but if you've got a car and love exploring things less touristy this could be an item to pop on your list. So bravo Monsieur Bern, for actually caring enough about the history you present to make a real, and hopefully lasting, difference.