Reflections

It was a priceless trip. The experiences were great. We lived a different lifestyle and were able to change our daily groove. We lived the Parisian - life. We spent time getting to know county folk, we tried to pick up some French culture and habits, like spending more time talking at the table. Treating our meals with a gourmet attitude and maybe having an eclectic feel in our house (hanging a sword on the wall, finding a marble bust). Some things stay the same, for example, brothers and sisters still fight over nonsense. TV is still the entertainment of choice.... 

This marble bust was tucked into a corner in the house we rented in Amboise.

Day 14: travelling home odds & ends

Time to list some trip events that did not make it into the blog.

Kilometres driven: 1960km

Gas station fill ups: three and one half tanks

Total Cost of diesel: 195 euro

Wrong turns with the car:

1. Into on coming traffic (lucky no cars were coming)

2. Twice around the round about because we did not know which exit to take

3. Onto the bike bath (which looked like a narrow road)

4. Onto a dead end street (I blame the GPS for this mistake)

5. Into the car wash entrance and not the parking lot exit, I was able to back out.

We think we climbed between 2000 and 3000 stairs.

Days without flan, two.

Days with rain, one.

Mice that the cat gave to us, three.

Pictures taken 1700.

Walls Jonah peed on: Six.

Personal toilet paper: one role in Paris.

Ten loads of laundry.

Suitecases: four coming to France and five leaving. 

Icecream consumed: Too much.

Flan consumed: Way too much. Even in the airport....

Don't tell anyone but before leaving Amboise we went to the Gigot cafe for breakfast for an extra 500 calories. Then we filled up a shopping bag with croissant and pastry for the trip home. It seems we cannot pass a 

   

Day 13: Chinon Royal Fortresse

A cool and sunny day, perfect for the hill top Chateau in Chinon. The chateau has a dragon theme that the kids liked. We loved the feeling and the information. There was a clear and easy history that was explained as you went through the chateau, in part with creative films about the period. Most important was Joan of Arc meeting King Charles vII in 1492. 

One of the very friendly touches here are lawn chairs for the guests to use...made a great picnic spot, when no one is attacking.

What do you think we ate?

Yes, that is a can of sardines and avocado, we are really deviating from our regular diet. We even had tomato and cucumber before the cantaloupe and flan.

I can only imagine that it took all summer to cut down enough trees to heat the chateau. Especially because every room had a massive fire place. 

We are packing up tonight. Going to a bakery for breakfast then heading to Orly for our flight home. The accommodations in Amboise have been great for our needs. We have a parking spot, we don't need to use the car to walk to the city centre and the house is very nicely set-up.

What did we learn?

You can hear church bells no matter where you are in France.

The kids are exploring more and more, with their diet. In the last two days they have tried, tomato soup with tomato and basil ice cream, French onion soup, mussels, and cream brûlée. No matter what we order everyone is happy with their meal. Today we sat at an outdoor brasserie for one and a half hours, who knew that the kids could sit that long at the table and talk and eat.

We are coming home, our pants fit a little tighter, our cheeks a little more plumb and our willingness to try new experiences more generous.

Day 12: "is it art or pig?"

I think this picture explains our title.

We spent he morning walking the local vendors market. One side was meat, cheese, fruits and vegetables, the other side was clothing and costume jewelry. We bought soaps and cheese cake. Guess which one is in this picture. Okay the picnic table is a clue. Blackened cheese cake loaf. Light and fluffy and does not taste burnt.

Chateaux Chenonceau is huge and fascinating. Many people inside, but the grounds are spacious and it is fun to walk around. The kids loved the donkeys, I liked the gardens and the chateau kitchens. .

Each room has a fire place big enough to burn tree trunks. This fire place is six feet wide and five feet high. The chateau has an amazing history and was used until 60 years ago. In both WW I and II the chateau was first a hospital and then an escape route out of occupied France. O

Today we slowed the pace down somewhat. Everyone is tired after a late night out. Still we did a lot and walked until our feet hurt.

Today we learned:

Jonah- Nothing

Isabel- only women lived in the Chateau

Sam- donkeys are cuter than you think

Iris- Donkeys don't attract flies

Steven- The French lifestyle is about pleasure. Family, food, socializing, leisure. 

One more day before we fly home.

Day 10 in Nolay

Another beautiful day in Burgundy. Today we drove to the town of Nolay. We were somewhat surprised to learn that we had already been through the town and stopped at the bulangerie before. Luckily it was one of the best stops we made. The bread and pastries are Devine. Funny thing about the GPS is that the route seems to change, which is confusing but also nice because each road offers different scenery. 

We did a two part hike. Bout de Monde, not well marketed so there are local people, but few tourists. The loop is 3.5 hours, but not really. I think we walked 3/4 of the loop in 90 minutes. On the way back we found what we were looking for, the grote. the cave entrance was five feet off the main trail. We could only look into the cave from a tiny hole in the face of the cliff. As we looked into the cave we could feel the cool damp cave air. The hike lead us up to the top of a limestone cliff. Not dangerous but very scenic. 

The second hike was shorter. From the trailhead we walked  through a field to the base of the cliffs we were on top of during the first hike. There was a great oval formation with towering rock walls and a cascading waterfall. This was the best possible spot for our last lunch in Burgundy. We perched ourselves on a low rock ledge and ate and ate some more. Today we added to our diet because we purchased gigantic tomatoes called Coeur de Boeuf.

 As you may know, public toilets in France are few and far between. In the county there are no public bathrooms. Some restaurants will allow a child to use the bathroom, while others restrict the bathrooms for clients only. At the parking lot next to the hike there was no bathroom, and no hope of making it back to Nolay in time, so Jonah had his first lesson in how to shit in the woods. It was a pass/fail lesson and Jonah passed!

It was 33 degrees Celsius back at the car, but the heavy shade during the hike kept us feeling comfortable. We found the church in Nolay and the tiny village also had a fountain. All three kids were soaking wet and feeling refreshed. Before driving home we  walked to the grocery store for a box of pistachio drum sticks. All-in-all we finished touring  Burgundy on a high note.

Back in Beaune we stopped for take out pizza somwe could eat dinner by the pool. The sign said non stop service from noon to midnight but of course the door was locked and the restaurant closed at 4:30 on a Friday. We opted for a swim and then Isabel and I drove to Suerre to find dinner. We found frozen pizza, turkey nuggets, cantaloupe and candy... Another successful meal.

   

Day 11: Escape Chateau Amboise

We had a full day, I am blogging at 12:45am. 

We left Beaune at 8:30am and as we passed through Toucy we were in the middle of the Saturday market, it seems you can buy live chickens for 15 euro, not a bad price, but Iris would not let me stop the car. 

We arrived at an working museum called Guedelon. Using 13th century tools and techniques they are rebuilding a stone chateau. Really they have created a village already, in order to support the project. Of course there are stone cutters and quarry workers. But there were carpenters, blacksmith, rope makers, cooks and farmers. As you can see we ordered a typical 13th century meal with pork, sausages, egg (we think) and lettuce. We also ordered a meat plate to share.... There was not too much sharing, Iris volunteered to eat the pickle.

Here a worker uses an axe to shape a beam from a log with unbelievable skill.

Back in the car for 2.5 hours. After a brief shopping break at the Grand Frais, a great find for fresh produce, we arrived at our final destination, Amboise. The house is perfect, Clean, spacious, well equipped and best of all a short walk to the centre of town. The owners have an old collection of cool hats. The Internet works too!

We walked around town which is lively and intriguing with many paces to eat. Lots to explore tomorrow including the Sunday market with 400 vendors. 

I forgot a funny story. Remember the Gaul sword we bought? Well Iris was right, it is too long for our suitcase. So on the drive we found boxes in the trash that I will cut up and tape around the sword so we can check the sword as language on the plane. I don't think we could get it onto the airplane as a carry on.

Why did we name this blog Escape Chateau Amboise? 

While walking around Amboise we ended up buying tickets to the 10 pm light show about the history of Amboise. Of course the story is told in French, we are all very tiered, the show ends at 11:30 pm, the show is outside. Clearly we should have been wiser about this grand spectacle. Upon sitting in our seats we knew that we made a mistake. The show started 10 minutes late, then it started to rain lightly. Finally when Jonah fell asleep we got up and pushed our way off the stadium seating and walked out crossing between the seats and the performers. We made our escape, laughing all the way.

 

For sure we learned a lot today. Mostly the 13 century building and innovation for the time period was impressive. One of the coolest tools was used by the rope maker to twist string into rope using a two part tool we are calling the rope tool. I had no idea how many innovations came from the Romans. I think the boys wee impressed by the second floor outhouse. Iris picked up a recipe for bread and chicken-fat pudding. Isabel loved the lunch plate.

 

Day 7: Ceaser

Today we visited Alesia, the great battle between the Romans and the Gauls. Of course the Roman army won. The kids did a 90 minute training camp to learn to use the sword and shield. They loved the lesson but were nervous about the French. They had no idea the fighting manoeuvre terms were in Latin!

The museum was beautiful and educational. We each had an audio guide to explain the history of the area and the Gaul and Roman arms and war strategy. Even the coffee was nice that Iris and I enjoyed while the kids did their 90 minute program.

In this picture you see the plains upon which the battle took place. I will add pictures of the kids training when the vacation is over.

As always lunch was a baguette with meat and cheese, but today we also had fresh cantaloupe, very sweet. Instead of Nutella, Jonah had cream cheese, and enjoyed the change in menu.

What did we learn?

1.The tourist office in town offers free Wifi.

2. The fighting training and leadership of the Roman army gave them a commanding lead over the disorganized Gaul troops. Also the philosophy was that injuring was better than killing because it is harder to care for the injured than the dead and causes more hardship for the opposing army.

3. Isabel really enjoyed the military training.... Maybe she will have a career in the army?

4. Sometimes the gift shop wins... Like today. We almost had an inexpensive day, but Sam argued so eloquently for the replica Gaul sword that we had to get it for the house as a commemorative decoration.

On the way home we stopped at the Inter Marche to get groceries and ate salad and chicken wings next to the pool. Guess what we ate for dessert? More Flan! The kids snuck an entire flan pie into the shopping cart.

Outside of the circular museum The roof is a circular with grass and birch trees on the roof top garden. Very spectacular, maybe because we visited the terrace without the kids, it seemed romantic. 

Tomorrow we visit Autun to see Roman ruins and a winery and cellar on the way home.