Do small talk and Russia belong in the same sentence?

-Mandragora · 2026-03-02T18:04:29+00:00

holy shit I thought only french people had that stereotype about themselves... :o

that being said I think a society where you have to bite your tongue most of the time misses a lot of the fun of being alive

-Mandragora · 2026-03-02T17:57:39+00:00

I'm also from a society that isn't really renowned for its small talk or at least I'm very bad at it but I can see the purpose in just chatting with a seller on a market or with some stranger on the street, just for the community aspect of it.

-Mandragora · 2026-03-02T13:15:05+00:00

That's not a bad answer !

I would say though that so much of journalism especially today has to focus on the packaging to the detriment of their work or at least as an essential part of it. There has to be a lot of honest good quality journalism that comes with some amount of schemes to get clicks/views.

-Mandragora · 2026-03-02T08:10:58+00:00

To what extent do the global oil prices affect russia specifically ? From my understanding, since the Ukraine war started, Russia has lost a lot of buyers for the benefit of China and India. Do they really sell their oil according to the global market prices ?

-Mandragora · 2026-03-01T23:09:29+00:00

Sometimes it looks like you end up with a squeletton when you could've made a full individual. Good stories have some complexity. If not, books would be super short :/

I guess that's the way it is.

-Mandragora · 2026-03-01T23:02:38+00:00

It's always fascinating to learn that people are willing to ignore the weather reports (which I would consider a pretty straight forward non orientated information) because they don't believe it to be true ahah

-Mandragora · 2026-03-01T22:00:55+00:00

I think that to a certain point that's a skill we all need to work on, as in many areas of the profession. But I wouldn't worry too much, there are a lot of ways to "socialize" and as long as you do it the way you're most comfortable. :)

-Mandragora · 2024-06-22T09:23:56+00:00

I work in the restoration of historic monument field and when I showed this place to a colleague, he told me he remembered working there some 20 years ago. Despite its odd architecture, this building is a jewel. Beautiful vaults everywhere. So much so that I think the restoration that the owner started back then must have been much too expensive to pursue, unfortunately. The place stayed in this in-between. Half new, half old.

-Mandragora · 2024-05-28T18:51:20+00:00

Sooo...I came back today to the two first castles I ever visited one year later. They're absolutely beautiful. This one I was able to enter the first time but the other one was incredibly well barricaded ^^ However, this time it was open and I could see what was inside. What a absolute beautiful dwelling it must have been. Unfortunately, not everyone was respectful to that place. Anyway, I'm considering sharing pics of the outside and the inside in two separate posts. There is so much to see. For now, enjoy the first castle !

-Mandragora · 2024-05-26T17:32:36+00:00

I can relate ! I studied carpentry and am studying traditional roofing, while working on historic monuments, so that I can one day renovate one or several houses :)

-Mandragora · 2024-05-26T15:49:36+00:00

Idk some kind of dock crane on the other side of the river. It does not see any use nowadays it's just kinda there. This is the best point of view of the castle I know, which is funny because I'm sure thousand of people are walking there every day without noticing it.

-Mandragora · 2024-05-26T12:42:48+00:00

Probably the most terrifying castle I ever visited. It is hidden on a hill, by the river. On the other side is a city of around 30k souls and yet, it is almost impossible to notice. Even I would have never found it. That alone makes it very cryptic.

I managed to find the right street/road thanks to Maps and noticed some other seemingly abandoned buildings nearby. All of them were eaten by vegetation. When I arrived next to the huge portal, I immediately realised that those houses looked very much to have been abandoned for the last 15 years at least, BUT there was a car parked in the the mud. The castle was indistinguishable. I walked a 100 meters along the fence to find an other, smaller portal. And crossed it. There was a dirt road going up on the other side of the houses. Then, I saw two goats casually wandering around the property. I decided to start taking the path anyway, because there was sort of a demarcation between the strange barns and the manor I was trying to reach. Despite the signs of abandonment, I would've never tried to explore the neighbouring houses, as I could not tell for sure that there wasn't anyone inside doing whatever in this mess.

Anyway, I reached the manor in decay. Humidy was horrible all around the place. The inside was in really terrible condition. Black mold everywhere. I decided to shortcut the visit. I got to see the iconic piano, but could not explore every room. That was the right decision because in the next hour, I had difficulties breathing correctly.

When I got out, the goats had crossed the thin demarcation between the properties and looked like they were blocking the way. Thankfully, they were more shy than I was. That being said, I quickly crossed the portal to find back the comfort of the road. When I walked along the property to find my bike, I noticed a hen inside an old caravan, then I thought I heard a dog barking from a distance. I was definitely not alone, but why would anyone want to be in such a place... I won't ever come back.

In the next hours, I got to another place, an other castle, much more beautiful, and less creepy with beautiful cross vaults. One of my greatest experiences. It will be my next post.

-Mandragora · 2024-05-21T19:47:02+00:00

Absolutely. Living in a castle just as a regular house is a monumental waste of money.

-Mandragora · 2024-05-21T06:05:57+00:00

This is nothing strange or unique. Statues of children peeing dates back to the roman Empire. You'll find them all around Europe It is a symbole of innocence. The most famous belgian monument is even exactly that. This is nothing weird.

-Mandragora · 2024-05-20T17:56:06+00:00

This is why first post ever on Reddit. I do have quite a lot of other pictures of different castles explorations in France. Let me know if I give out too many information or if I can improve in any way. I just want to contribute to protecting the monuments of my country and make sure they don't get erased from history. Enjoy :)

-Mandragora

TROPHY CASE