An expert's point of view on a current event.Fifty miles northeast of Paris sits a ruined château that Emmanuel Macron hopes can catalyze an era of fresh glory for France. Built over the course of the 16th century, the Château de Villers-Cotterêts served two centuries of French kings before gradually falling into disrepair. During the 19th century it was repurposed as a dépôt de mendicité, a hybrid hospice-prison for the destitute, while in more recent decades it became a retirement home. The last residents left in 2014, after which the building was abandoned in a state of damp decay.In...…An expert's point of view on a current event.Fifty miles northeast of Paris sits a ruined château that Emmanuel Macron hopes can catalyze an era of fresh glory for France. Built over the course of the 16th century, the Château de Villers-Cotterêts served two centuries of French kings before gradually falling into disrepair. During the 19th century it was repurposed as a dépôt de mendicité, a hybrid hospice-prison for the destitute, while in more recent decades it became a retirement home. The last residents left in 2014, after which the building was abandoned in a state of damp decay.In...WW…