Arrived at Melun, walked into town, only to find that the one place to catch a taxi is at the station. Nightmare toilet stop at the station! 20 centimes to open what looked like a dungeon door and enter an oversized room with nothing in it but a stainless steel toilet - no washbasin, no paper - and a large sign warning that 15 minutes with no activity would sound an alarm. If you needed a hurry up, that would be it! Thankfully the dungeon door opened when I was ready to leave and I escaped.
Wonderfully helpful taxi driver took us to Courtry to find our chateau for the night. It was gorgeous! Our room was at the top of a narrow winding staircase that climbed the turret on one side of the chateau. You can see our window at the top of the turret in one of the pictures below. The "Chambre Rounde" was a circular room with windows looking out across the grounds, a bed, a bath, pieces of antique furniture and interesting artworks on the walls. Tres belle!
We were welcomed not only by the hosts M. and Mme. Brunn, but their dog Zelie too. Zelie couldn't get enough cuddles and if you stopped patting her she tugged at your leg for more.
About 7 pm we left for the hour walk to Vaux-le-Vicomte. Saw deer in the field and a baby rabbit rolling in a cornfield as if he was just glad to be out of the burrow. Arrived at Vaux just as the sun was going down and the candles were illuminating the grounds and chateau.
If you can view it, Brent took a video of the chateau and grounds when it was too dark for my camera to capture it.
Enjoyed baguette and wine at Les Charmilles, the champagne bar in the chateau grounds. Once darkness had settled we strolled the gardens and the chateau. It was eerie with the ceilings and paintings lit only by candlelight, but did create an atmosphere of what it might have been like when the chateau's original owner, Nicolas Fouquet, was holding court.
We had a wonderful night and M. Brunn kindly picked us up from Vaux to take us back to Chateau de Courtry. After all that walking it was a very sound sleep in Chambre Ronde!
2 comments:
Dear Sally and Brent,
I love travelling toilet stories. The toilet at the station did sound like a nightmare but even in a fairly civilised country like France it sounds rather unusual. Are you sure you didn't accidentally wander into a medieval theme park or perhaps it was part of an historical reconstruction of an interrogation headquarters of the Gestapo in occupied France during World War 2? What sort of activity are they monitoring in that toilet? Ones or twos? Imagine if you couldn't manage either and were constipated, you are already a little stressed and 14 minutes go by with no movement, the thought of a siren going off and searchlights sweeping the room is hardly likely to assist in a successful outcome.
The dog certainly is a dear little thing but I wouldn't be more affectionate than is absolutely necessary, remember it is French and it needs very little encouragement to turn from a cute little pup into an amorous Pepi le Phew that may do more than just tug on your leg.
The Chateau looks fantastic, but I'd hate to be the poor sod whose job it is to light all of those candles. Can you imagine him doing that job on a windy day. Please forgive some more cultural stereotyping; but in Australia, a romantic dinner usually only requires one candle on the table and perhaps a little Cold Chisel playing in the background, but in France they're obviously not in the mood for love unless the latent air temperature hits the high 30's. The air temperature here is nowhere near 30 but it doesn't mean there is no excitement, mystery or beauty to be experienced just staying at home; I have just watched Pearl have a little wee in the back garden. It looks like you are having an amazing time and we are looking forward to seeing the next update, another video clip would be great.
Cheers
Paul, Fiona and Ruby
Dear Sally and Brent,
Can see your hols are as good as they look, and sound. Great the video. It looks like a great place to stay. Looking forward to seeing some pics and hearing about your trip when you land (thud!)
Bye 4 Now, Judy and Julie XX
Nice to meet you, Brent
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