One of the things I always loved about living in France was just how much history was … everywhere! On my very first visit to la Bretagne my host brother took me to see le Mont Saint-Michel and to the ruins of an ancient château fort in the middle of the woods. For a kid from les Etats-Unis (the United States) seeing these old buildings was amazing.

But keeping all of these splendeurs (splendors) sparkling and accessible to the public takes work. Enter Dartagnans! Launched by Romain Delaume and  named for the hero of Les trois mousquetaires, Dartagans is le start-up qui veut sauver les châteaux (the start-up who wants to save the castles). It is, according to their site, la platforme de crowdfunding (autrement dit de financement participative) exclusivement dédiée au rayonnement et à la préservation de patrimoine (the crowdfunding (or participative financing) platform exclusively dedicated to the highlighting and protection of the national heritage/legacy).

Modeled on an English concept, Romain and his co-founder sought to bring together users on the internet (des internautes) with property owners who wanted help preserving their historic properties. They’re even helping support some of France’s most famous locations … including one of my favorites, le chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte and its great clock.

Read a great overview of Dartagnans! and there work from the US news organization National Public Radio here.

Photo (C) Tim Hildreth, 1986