DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
• Spend a night living like a king (although watch your head if you stay there). France’s opulent Palace of Versailles – one of the most visited tourist sites in the country – is flinging open its doors in a bid to raise funds for its maintenance. The property’s management is reportedly calling for tenders for someone to run three 17th century mansions located a short distance from the main building as a hotel (already tentatively named the Hotel de l’Orangerie). A previous attempt to create a hotel on the palace was abandoned a couple of years ago. The last royal occupants, King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette, were both executed in the French Revolution.
• Ever dreamt of living in a city straight from the pages of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings? A crowd-funding effort is currently underway to raise £1.85 billion to build the capital of Gondor, Minas Tirith, spectacularly brought to life in Peter Jackson’s film adaptions of the books. The architects and engineers behind the effort – who had raised ¬£81,000 by the time we went to print from more than 2,000 people – aim to create a full functioning city in line with that envisioned by Jackson with work proposed to begin next year. “We believe that, in realising Minas Tirith, we could create not only the most remarkable tourist attraction on the planet, but also a wonderfully unique place to live and work.” While it remains to be seen whether the project gets up, one group has already vowed to do all they can to destroy it. A rival crowd-funding project, spearheaded by fantasy author Tom Stacey, aims to raise a orc army to tear the city down should it be built. It has raised £22 of a £1 million goal when we looked.
• Authorities in the US state of Idaho have reportedly replaced a 420 mile highway sign with one marking 419.9 miles, apparently to thwart collectors eager to take the sign for its association with marijuana. The number 420 has long had an association with the drug which has already led authorities in other US states to also remove 420 mile signs (although there are not said to be many given the length a road has to be to attract such a sign in the first place).
