Residents in a town in the south-west of France joined together to build a castle in three days It formed part of an artistic endeavour to reconstruct Graulhet’s (Tarn) lost castle which was first destroyed in the 15th century organised by the mairie in association with the firm Constructions Monumentales Participatives en Cartons d’Olivier Grossetête took more than a year and half and involved schools Part of the challenge was that while it is widely known that the town once had a castle “There is hardly any trace,” project leader Hugo Planès from Graulhet mairie told France 3 “It was already there in the 10th century because we know that in 960 the lord of Graulhet went on a pilgrimage to Saint-Jacques de Compostelle and bequeathed seven castles to his son – including this one.” “But the 16th-century lord of Graulhet judged this castle to be in a poor state of repair and too gloomy so he wanted to build a new one outside the town.” Read more: Owner will gift historic French castle for free…there is a catch The cardboard reconstruction – and destruction – of Graulhet’s ‘gloomy castle’ turned out to be a joyful affair the intricate details of the castle’s facade were crafted by volunteers under the watchful eye of the project’s designer 1,300 cardboard boxes weighing over one and a half tonnes were delivered to the central square in Graulhet The volunteers added elements to the castle from the bottom – lifting up the whole structure each time to put boxes underneath more and more arms were needed to lift the construction as the castle grew the cardboard castle in Graulhet’s main square was complete locals only had one evening to admire their handiwork attaching ropes to the top of the structure Read more: Toulouse home sells at half price as pool in view of thousands of people Then they proceeded to clamber on top of the fallen boxes and flatten them the fleeting cardboard castle left its mark “It was a great participative event,” he said “And the people of Graulhet will certainly remember the castle now.” This small department on the German border is home to the historic city of Strasbourg We also look at other key French transport acronyms: SNCF Japanese pastry chef Mori Yoshida creates refined cakes and desserts Daniel Sancery will continue his career in France. The Brazilian test fullback joins Nationale 2 club Graulhet from the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) He returned to Brazil for professional rugby purposes in 2016 Sancery played for Os Cobras in the 2021 and 2022 SLAR seasons He was also involved in the Brazilian team in SLAR 2020 Now aged 28, Sancery returns to France with 38 test caps to his name Most of the test matches have been alongside his twin brother Tags Mexico hosted and defeated Jamaica on Saturday Jason Tesson (TotalEnergies) won stage 2 of La Route d’Occitanie after beating Corbin Strong (Israel Premier Tech) and Elia Viviani (Ineos) in a bunch sprint in Graulhet Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) finished 13th on the stage to retain the overall lead The stage was animated by Carlos Garcia Pierna (Equipo Kern Pharma) who pressed clear alone after being part of the day’s early break but he was recaptured with a shade under 50km to go Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) and Michael Woods (Israel Premier Tech) successfully contested the intermediate sprints in the finale but the day was always likely to end in a mass finish Filippo Ganna delivered a striking cameo in the final kilometre on behalf of his Ineos teammate Viviani who showed a fine turn of speed in the finishing straight It was the sixth win of the Frenchman’s career and his third of the 2023 season after his brace of victories at the Tropicale Amissa Bongo in January Results powered by FirstCycling The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox! FRANCE rugby legend Guy Laporte has passed away at the age of 69. The former fly-half was part of the France squad that finished as runners-up at the first ever Rugby World Cup in 1987. He sat out the final against eventual winners New Zealand but finished the tournament as his nation’s top-scorer. Known for his skilful footwork, Laporte spent most of his career at SC Graulhet - where he was later made president. Tributes have poured in for the man labelled ‘a great gentleman’ of French rugby. French Rugby Federation president Bernard Laporte said: "The French rugby family has just lost a great gentleman in the person of Guy Laporte. “Brilliant fly-half of the France XV and great president of the Graulhet club, Guy Laporte marked his time with his talent. All my condolences to his family and loved ones." Laporte made his international debut in the Five Nations victory over Ireland back in February 1981. He went on to become France’s topscorer at the 1987 World Cup racking up 42 points in the inaugural competition Overall he won only 16 caps for his country but touched down for three tries and scored a whopping 143 points overall In later life he went on to become a vice-president of the French Rugby Federation and head coach of Castres A secure connection to agenda.ge cannot be established sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are going to the right place