Model ships for work, not play

Picture wooded slopes in the foothills of the French Alps, mostly old-growth hazel with roe deer roaming free, and a long, long way from the sea. A patched-up road leads to a lake and an eighteenth-century hunting lodge. Believe it or not, many a sailor — from Mississippi pilots to Russian captains of ice-breaking LNG carriers — has fond memories of this bucolic setting. Not far from here is the Palais idéal, or Ideal palace, a curious masterpiece built by French postman Ferdinand Cheval between 1879 and 1912.