We just finished breakfast on this rainy Thursday morning. We had French toast (tastes different than what we make)on French bread, in a French cottage in France. How neat is that?! There is another couple staying here. They are French so the conversation at breakfast is very limited. Dave likes to try his French accent out when he talks English. He thinks it helps people understand him better. :) One interesting thing to note about breakfast. Dave and I are given mugs and the French folks are given bowls for coffee/tea/hot chocolate. They drink from the bowls - which are really cereal bowls. Can't figure that one out.
Yesterday we visited two castles. Chambord is massive - 426 rooms, 282 fireplaces and 77 staircases. Of course we were only permitted to go through small sections of the castle. Dave and I always want to go where we're not suppose to because that's where the adventure is but everything was locked up tight so we had to behave. The grounds of the castle are surrounded by a stone fence which is about 8 feet high. The fence is 32 klms long and has 6 gates. The entire property is 5446 hectres - the same size as inner Paris. It seems the main purpose of the castle was to impress others. The building first started in 1519 and wasn't completed until a couple of hundred years later. The really annoying part, for me, is that the kings who owned the place through the years rarely were there. Francis 1 (who started the project) was only there 72 days in 32 years!!
I love castles and reading historical fiction about life in the "castle era". I wish we were able to flash back to those times and see what life was like.
There was hardly any furniture in the castle as everything was packed up when the king moved on. In the late 1700's, the castle had a yard sale and sold off whatever was there. Too bad. If you don't know what the castle looks like, look it upon the Internet. It's incredibly
beautiful. I currently have a picture of it as my screen saver on my work computer.
When we came out of this castle, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. We had sun all afternoon - the most sun so far - and it actually got hot out. I thought I'd be able to wear one of my sundresses today but we woke up to rain and I'm in pants and a sweater again. :(
We headed back to the cottage (which has exterior walls almost 2 feet thick) for a nap. Then we were off to Cheverny. A totally different castle. It's fully furnished and the owner and his family still live there. They live in the west wing which, of course, we couldn't go in. This castle has patterns painted on every square inch of the walls and ceilings. There were some amazing tapestries - some of which were from the 1500's and looked like new. If you're a little frustrated with my lack of detail about the castles, it's because it's so hard to put into words what we saw. Especially when I have limited time and space to do so. Hopefully the pictures (which you have to wait to see) will give you an idea of what it was like. We did get a great idea for our bookshelves from the library at Chevereny. :)
After the castle we went to the pastry shop and bought bread and then to the grocery store to get milk, butter, and wine. People shop here almost daily. The shopping carts are tiny. We ate in the garden of our cottage. It was very nice.
A couple of things I want to talk about today - safety and bathrooms. First safety. Both the Dutch and the French are MUCH more relaxed about "things" than Americans and Canadians. On the canal boat ride, there were people sitting on the back of boat (this doesn't describe it well at all but suffice it to say that'd never happen at home). Little kids (and dogs) sit on the crossbar of bikes. (How the dogs stay on is a mystery.) We've already talked about driving. Dogs seem to be welcome everywhere - even in stores. When we had dinner two nights ago, a cat (that looked a lot like Kobee) was wondering around. In some ways this "relaxed attitude" is
refreshing. Seat belts are a must. The beeper in our car continues to get louder the longer you wait to get your belt on.
Now to bathrooms. Public bathrooms, in both countries, are mini rooms. Floor to ceiling walls and doors. When you lock the door it shows red on the outside so there's no guessing if it's occupied or not. In one public bathroom, there were no seats. You just sat on the bowl itself. The toilet paper is a treat. We've stayed in two nice hotels and used a number of public bathrooms. I was starting to believe that all toilet paper was just a notch above fine grit sandpaper. Then we came to this adorable cottage and know that softer tissue can be purchased. The really interesting thing is that it's pink. I can remember when I was little you could buy colored toilet paper (blue and pink) but that too went away - for "safety" reasons.
When we were at Versailles the men had no privacy at all. The women were inline for their bathrooms. The line was right in front of the men's stalls. We watched them go in and out. Sadly the sink wasn't used as much as it should have been.
Today we leave our cute cottage and head to Normandy. A three hour drive.
One thing I learned today - a new way to do my hair. :)
One new thing I experienced today - having breakfast in a bed in a bed and breakfast. Was a little concerned about this.it was a little uncomfortable but okay. Beautiful table.
Most powerful moment of the day - watching about 100 very large hunting hounds have supper. There was a 30 foot row of dog food and chicken and turkey (cut up with heads attached) laid out. The dogs were let into the pen. Wow! Amazing to watch. I didn't think
all the dogs got enough.
One pleasurable moment - being able to take off my coat and feel the warmth of the su
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