A simple drive down to Portsmouth got us the ferry to Cherbourg. What we hadn't realised was this week was also Le Mans week and the ferry was packed with exotic cars
The crossing to Cherbourg is quick and by Tuesday lunch time we were 'sur le continent'. David and Jan's house in Lomner is 4 hours from Cherbourg and by 17.00 we were sipping our first glass of bubbly.
The beach is beautiful and even though the temperatures when we arrived were not that hot there were swimmers.
The weather was glorious while we were in Brittany, not too hot and in hindsight it would have been better to visit Paris first and the Brittany second, since the heat later in the week did curtail our activities.
We had a great game of golf with our friend Cedric and that night went to eat at the wonderful Le Vivier restaurant in the village to celebrate my birthday.
We did take a trip to Concarneau along the coast.
As we went we also took a look at some fishing spots on a river. I have discovered that a French fishing permit allows one to fish practically everywhere and the rivers have a lot of small trout. Next time I shall take my rods.
The time in Brittany was short and on the Monday we drove the long way to our hotel in Melun, south-east of Paris. We took a rather devious route south via the Loire valley, to avoid the Le Mans area which was going to be busy and secondly because we thought it would be more interesting. Not really true and French motorways are all pretty similar.
We arrived around 19.00 at our hotel, "La Closerie des Trois Marottes" in Melun. The front door didn't look very hopeful but the place was a 'tardis' and behind was a large courtyard garden and a bizarre collection of rooms interconnected by queer staircases and steps.
It was, however, charming and the lady who kept it a real delight. Breakfast was outstanding and despite the AC in the room failing on the first night, there was fortunately another in the next room, we had a good three nights in the hotel.
The next day we were up early to go to the Chateau Vaux le Vicomte, which is just outside Melun.
The history of the chateau is amazing. Originally a small chateau it was purchased by Nicolas Fouquet in 1641. A successful business man and banker he developed the chateau with a small team of architects and builders. In 1657 he became finance minister to Louis XIV, who having visited the chateau became increasing jealous of Fouquet. In 1661 Fouquet threw a huge party at the chateau thinking to impress the King and secure his future. Unfortunately Louis could contain his jealousy no longer and that night Fouquet was arrested. He successfully challenged the arrest but was sent to prison by Louis for treason. He never was released and died in prison; some believing his imprisonment was the background to the story of 'The Man in the Iron Mask". Louis not only got rid of Fouquet but then stole a lot of the items from the chateau and ideas and architects to create Versaille. Later the chateau was owned and partially restored by Marshall Villars but later in the 19C restored to it originally glory by the Sommier family.
When we arrived it was already hot, 30C. In the car park were 10 coaches which turned out to be children's school trips. Our hearts sank as we approached the chateau with groups of small children everywhere. In reality we hardly saw any on our way round. They seemed to be taken on a different route although we did meet a group on the stairs dressed up in historical costumes.
The chateau was outstandingly beautiful and we wondered around with our audio guides practically alone. The audio guides described the main objects in the rooms but you realise the amazing amount time and money that must have been spent on practically every object and most of them weren't mentioned.
A dining room; which was apparently not common at the time. This was described as a 'buffet' and it's thought that this may have the actual origin of the term.
By 14.00 we were exhausted and it was time to see if we could get lunch. We drove to the nearby town of Blandy-les-Tours which has a very large castle right in the centre of a very small village. It had one bistro which was about to shut but the young lady running the place kindly said we could still eat and we had a very nice salad in the cool restaurant.
On the Wednesday we had planned to go to Versaille. We didn't go because; it was going to be a very long drive across the south edge of Paris, it was blisteringly hot and we would never manage the gardens and the security after the terrorist incidents meant that the queues would be huge (and hot). So we decided not to do this and instead went to Fontainebleau, which was just a few minutes drive south of Melun.
The chateau and gardens of Fontainebleau are right in the centre of the town. We parked in a huge car park in town and walked across the road to the chateau. No queues and again with our audio guides wondered through the seemingly endless rooms, each one full of glorious antiques. The chateau was started in the 14C but practically every French King has made alterations and so it's hard to unpick it's history. It was also a big deal for Napoleon and it was the final place he stayed before being exiled.
Given heat we once again could not do the gardens justice. After lunch we did have a brief walk around but actually there we very few flowers and the green lawns and hedge, although very impressive were not that interesting.
On the way back to the hotel we took a detour along the river and stopped at one of the very many lakes which have been created by excavating for sand and gravel. Now many are recreation lakes and of course it was time for Annie to have a swim.
Our last night in Melun we again eat out in the town and again had some very nice food. It was also the music festival and for awhile we watched the bands playing; not very well I have to say.
On the Thursday we headed back to Cherbourg. It's quite a long drive and we cut across the very beautiful French countryside to avoid Paris. We had a very nice lunch stop in Bayeux, but no time to explore, and I missed coffee due to a power cut! In Cherbourg quick trip to Carrefour to stock up on French T55 flour, duck and wine and we were on the ferry and home by 21.00. A lovely trip.
2025-02-16