Picassiette

La Maison Picassiette is not far from the amazing gothic cathedral of Chartres about 80 kilometres - 50 miles - southwest of Paris. Chartres was built atop many layers of ancient temples of preChristian religions. Apparently this spot has been holy ground for a very long time. New Age thinking has Chartres at the intersection of Ley Lines - invisible thin conduits of energy that flow around and through the Earth.

Nothing adequately explains why the cathedral handyman, Raymonde Isidore, would create such a beautiful, complicated, inspirational and mystifying environment from the house he had built for his family. He worked by himself in his free time between 1938 and 1964 using nothing but scavenged materials he found around this once-small town. The entire house and garden are covered with intricate mosaics composed of broken crockery, painting and sculpture. The house is fairly small, especially by modern standards. It's shape and size reflect the lot it stands on. Once inside, however, you enter the boundless world of a passionate imagination.