I am interested in learning about the construction of a castle using only materials and tools of the period it represents. TripAdvisor reviews mentioned that quite a number of daily presentations were not available in English. Unfortunately I cannot speak French. It would be a disappointment to travel there and not understand what is going on. Has anyone been there recently?
Posted by
IJzendijke, The Netherlands
2087 posts
Have visited Guédelon several years ago but can't help you with the language. Much is self explanatory there but I understand asking questions will be difficult. Try to contact them if they can help you: https://www.guedelon.fr/en/contact
or for a phonecall:https://www.guedelon.fr/en
Posted by
PA, USA
82 posts
Mark.davis, I had this question too and didn't get any response to my email, so I called today. They haven't scheduled any guided tours for May and June, not even in French. The woman I spoke to hopes to be able to schedule some English tours during July and August, but I think the site may be short-staffed. Most English groups bring their own guide, and they are not thrilled to be adding strangers to their tours. Most of the team that visitors meet speak English and can answer questions.
Unfortunately, we don't know enough to ask the most interesting questions. On our last visit we happened to be sitting down in the courtyard when an English group stopped near us and we learned a lot listening to their guide for 5 minutes. The guide was knowledgeable about coinage at that time, not something I'd have thought to ask about.
Did you find their calendar of events confusing? I know they are closed most Tuesdays and Wednesdays at least during the time period I checked for us. An orange circle supposedly means Guedelon is open, but when you click on an orange Tues or Wed, Guedelon is actually closed. We made this mistake on our previous visit!
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4088 posts
Maybe Wikipedia can be a little help:
Posted by
Florida
498 posts
We visited Guedelon several years ago. From my point of view, kerouac2 is right about the relative unimportance of understanding French. I still remember the demonstration of rope-making. I suppose it would have been better if I understood the French that was being spoken, but it was still very interesting.
There was a staff member at the castle who was answering questions in English. I would imagine you could find someone like that if you visit, but each activity will not include English translations.
It could be that the lack of English explanations will diminish your enjoyment, but it didn't for me.
Posted by
PA, USA
82 posts
We enjoyed watching all of Guedelon's videos, which are subtitled.
Google "les feux de guedelon."