So today we start the Loire valley.  Most people go from east to west (from Paris outward) which is how the tour books are all written but from a practical matter I always head west to east and start in Angers.

The castle is huge – I mean really really big!

What is most deceiving is that when you enter the castle you can’t really see the height of the walls because the courtyard is elevated.

It houses the Apocalypse Tapestry – it is very very long – and people really respect the no flash rule – it is housed quite elegantly.

After we headed to lunch at the Dolmen Cafe – it doesn’t look like much from the outside – but inside they have the largest Dolmen in Europe.  But no food! He gave the same excuse about not having food that he did in 2009 – so it really isn’t much of a cafe.

It looks like a giant pillow fort – and his is the largest by ‘volume’ because there is one a bit bigger in Spain but not area wise.  Also there was a wasp nest inside so about half way in you realized you didn’t want to linger.

Still hungry we headed to Fontevraud – we found a nice cafe and sat down – they guy was so worried about our unstable table that he fussed and fussed and got new feet for it and made it perfectly level and then told us he didn’t have any good.  Oy.  So we went across the street.

We were there to see Fontevraud Abbey.

I had been told at one point that the tombs of Eleanore of Aquitane and Richard the Lionheart were not here only their effigies were – but their literature says they indeed have the tombs.  The fact that there is still color on these is amazing!

Out in the courtyard of the cloisters they had this roller coaster looking deck – very neat work of modern art – fun to walk on.

I also  loved the wildflowers.

We were staying in Saumur but the Chateau wasn’t open (which is why the zig zag for the day) – but  from the hotel room I could see a balloon tour.  We looked it up and they are VERY expensive. Still a great view from the room.  But that’s not until tomorrow!

 

Trip tally: 1354KM traveled.  24 places visited (12 castles, 3 cathedrals, 4 prehistoric  sites + 5 places of cultural significance).

As always we thank you for the support of this project be sure to Like us on Facebook & tell your friends.

It is Bastille day! Don’t get excited – we didn’t end up seeing ANY celebrations – no fireworks or nothing.  We were kind of in between things.

The big news is that our next Castle – the Chateau d’Fougères was closing early because they shoot the fireworks from there.

The Chateau is considered one of the largest fortified castles in France.  The fortified part is the distinction.  Like many places we visit it looks better from the outside – where you can see the walls, towers, and even moat (with water).  Inside was a lot of construction, event spaces, and multimedia.

I did like this trap door though.

From there we headed to Brittany to see the Chateau d’Comper.  It was originally built in the 13th century.

Inside it houses the “Centre de l’imaginaire arthurien” which is this amazingly awful museum of Arthurian legend artwork. I mean they were looping parts of the Disney film The Sword and the Stone and had these displays and posters explaining Arthurian Legend but they were more New Age than informative.

This is the heart of Arthurian legend because behind the castle is the lake that Merlin is said to have built the Crystal Palace for Vivianne at.

That’s right – THIS it the lake the Lady in the Lake lives in:

The castle is located right outside the Paimpont Forest which is rumored to be the legendary enchanted forest of Brocéliande also from Arthurian Legend.

There are several neolithic sites in the forest.  However when we got there we realized this was no place to leave a car with bags – lots of ‘campers’ in the area just staring at people who were pulling up and leaving their cars.  So for the security of the bags – Amanda stayed with the car (she also wasn’t too upset about not hiking through the forest) and I went on ahead with the tripod.  I went down the path and bumped into a lady who said that what I was looking for wasn’t the way I was going so I turned.  Next thing you know… I am lost.  Don’t get me wrong – there are paths – but little ones – covered in leaves and spiders and all sorts of stuff.  So I wandered around and found an access road – which was great and I was safe but I wasn’t near my car and had no idea which way it was.  So I went back into the forest (on another path) and finally after about 2 hours found a very worried Amanda.

She said people kept pulling up – walking into the forest and coming back like 20 minutes later. Weird right? So we went to the big sign map and it turns out I went the wrong direction – I mean the totally wrong direction – it was across the street wrong direction.  So once again I headed off into the forest (this time the other way) and this time there were markers.  I started following the markers and after about 30 minutes ran into to 2 ladies who said that what I was looking for wasn’t there either and that the markers were for something else!  So I turned back.

Eventually I saw a sign and found the first place.  The fountain of youth.  Well not THE fountain of youth but A fountain of youth.  This is an old Celtic fountain.  No I didn’t drink.

Not far was a clearing where people had stacked stones.  It was very weird.  This was clearly recent because this is the trippy Arthurian forest and it was filled with New Age people.

Having totally given up on finding what I was really looking for I headed back to the car and not 500 feet from the car I saw the turn I had missed which led to the neolithic stones (and this weird guy reading a journal with his dog).

So finally I found it – the neolithic tomb they call Merlin’s Tomb.  Is it neolithic? Yes! Is it a tomb? Yes! Is it Merlin’s?  Well – was that skull a few days ago John the Baptist’s?

People had stuffed little notes in the rock.

Since the car was in earshot of the Tomb – I got Amanda and she came out and also got to enjoy the Tomb (after waiting in the car for over 3 hours of me being lost).

Back on the road we passed one of my favorite roundabouts.  It has this giant chair in the middle of it!  Many of the roundabouts have public art in the middle – but this one really clicks with me.

Even though it was Bastille day we really didn’t see any celebration or fireworks – we thought we might see from the road (and ended up driving late because of my forest misadventure).  Go figure.

For the foodies.  A simple breakfast.

And a simple gas station lunch – yes they sell Flan at the gas station.

We did stop for a snack and I had a crepe with Creme de Marron which is a sweet chestnut paste.  Very yummy.

When the driving gets tough – I keep going with Cherry Coke and these little meat sticks.

And one last note – when did Papa Smurf start wearing a speedo?

Next stop – the Loire Valley!

Trip tally: 1241KMtraveled.  21  places visited (11 castles, 2 cathedrals, 3 prehistoric sites, + 5 places of cultural significance).

As always we thank you for the support of this project be sure to Like us on Facebook & tell your friends.

Sorry for the delay in posting – I wrote all of this and then the Internet ate it and I had to write it again.  Also I am very tired – so much work to be done every night and every morning – but I will explain that in another post.

Only one thing to do today but it is a really big thing – Mont Saint Michel.  Of course we need a power breakfast so we started with the pink marshmallows that come with the room!

Even from several KM away you can see the island (islet) and the Abbey and city on top of it!

Mont Saint Michel is one of the stops of the Tour de France (which had just been through) and you could still see markings on the roads and signs on the houses.

I have been to Mont Saint Michel several times and the nightmare is always the parking.  The rock (or islet) is connected to the mainland by a causeway. Before they built the causeway there was a road that would be there only when the tide was out – when the tide came in the rock would become an island.  Normally it has this long line of traffic and then you have to find the safe parking lot (the one that won’t flood with the tide).  However when we got there we found out that they no longer allow cars on the causeway and force everyone to park on the mainland and either walk the 40 min or take a free 10 min shuttle.  The parking was easy and the lot was huge and it made the entire experience just pleasant. They don’t allow dogs on the shuttle unless they.. well you can see the sign.

Over the years sand has built up and it isn’t the island it used to be – so they are building a new (and more subtle) causeway and they are going to remove all of the sand so that it becomes a tidal island once again!

It is a fascinating city (yes it is a city about 50 people live there today) – with all sorts of interesting architectural details.

The city itself is fortified (so I count the city part as a castle) – you can see sand (not water) in the background.

They say it is pretty dangerous to walk out on the sand – these people were on horses! The area is known for quicksand.

Regretfully the area is a nightmare – it is overfull of tourists and when you first arrive all you see is food and gift shops. You can buy anything!

They don’t have the name Jared but they do have the name Jean Baptiste! Go figure.

I mean they sell everything…

This made me think of my friend Mace.  Seriously a lot of fake (and real) weapons – from swords to guns!

At one shop they had all of these old maps and there was one with this butterfly marking on it – and as I got closer I realized it was a real butterfly!  I took this picture and then only after realized it looked like I was taking pictures of a poster in a gift shop (which is a real no-no) when instead I was taking this detail.  Ooops!

Once we got through the waves of gift shops we go to the Abbey.

There are still Monks and Nuns who live here – (like 9).

The cloisters are a favorite (like in all abbeys) and this one opening has a spectacular view – it is covered in plexi-glass though.

And from here you can see why! I wonder if it was open in medieval times?

There was some workers strike going on and the Abbey was going to close earlier as a show of solidarity – we got there in time so it didn’t affect us and for some reason they also didn’t charge us.

Someone told us (at another castle) that a seagull at your castle was a sign of good luck.  I don’t think they mean that here.

On the way to the Abbey we passed a sign for a museum. As we approached I heard some woman lament that it cost money and she didn’t want to pay.  Why would you come all this way and then get cheap at the last second? The man at the counter told us there were 4 museums and that we got a discount for all 4 and then another discount because there were two of us so I said sure – what the hell.

The first museum was a 13th century house. It was small but well furnished and a nice example of what it was like to live on the island.  It really demonstrated the idea that everything is built up and up – like a tower on the side of a mountain.

The second museum was a history museum and wax museum of torture.  Torture was right.  The history museum was only 2 rooms filled with keys, and swords, and watch parts (and whatever else they could find).  In order to give full value they had a guide come in and close both doors and talk and talk about the items in the room.  But only in French – and you couldn’t escape.  When we got to the second room we slipped out and found the wax museum but it was creepy and we left.  That is when we realized that this was like Niagara Falls – all those little museums that hustle you for a dollar here and a dollar there.  And we had paid for two more!

I can’t accurately describe the third museum.  It was a sound and light show involving water and a 3d model of the island and it was really trippy.

The last museum was a maritime museum that contained models of ships – models – 4 floors of models!  And each museum ended… in a gift shop!

So glad those are over.

The shuttles operate until after midnight but we saw what we came to see (and some stuff we didn’t mean to see).

Just beautiful.

For the foodies.  We had a very nice meal on the island itself. It started with olives and a salmon spread. This was a complimentary appetizer.

I then had the Fois which was homemade and came with this amazing fig and almond bread.

The lamb came with a sweet potato puree (which I normally wouldn’t like) – it was a perfect compliment.

Don’t think all the meals are fancy.  At the motel later we found they had an appetizer and dessert bar.

The trick is that even cheap French food is pretty gourmet!

Tomorrow we head to Brittany and explore the land of King Arthur!

FYI – we count today as 1 castle (the city) and 1 cathedral (the Abbey).

Trip tally: 910KM traveled.  16  places visited (9 castles, 2 cathedrals, + 5 places of cultural significance).

As always we thank you for the support of this project be sure to Like us on Facebook & tell your friends.

 

 

As we head into Normandy it is amazing that the weather is still holding!  There are these funny posters that show the entire country of France with little suns all over it but clouds over Normandy.

Some people have asked about how we ‘work from the car’.  All of our essential are in our backpacks – this includes technology, cables, cameras, harddrives, medicines and such.

Everything else is packed in 2 big and 2 little suitcases that we fit in the trunk of the car.  (The quadcopter is also in the trunk).  To get the suitcases in we had to move the seats up slightly so we cover the gap with a black cloth.  From the outside you really can’t tell.  And luckily as time has passed the car no longer looks as ‘new’.  Thank you dead bugs and dirt.

Having spent the night in Caen all we had to do was get up and head 2km down the road.  It is a HUGE fortress.

Like many castles it was built and rebuilt.  The original part of the castle, which was the palace of William the Conqueror, is a total ruin and an archeological dig.  Next to it is the 12th century keep of his son, which was later built up with towers.  It too is a ruin – destroyed during the revolution because of its use as a prison:

There isn’t much to see INSIDE Caen.  They let you walk the ramparts (they even have an elevator for part of them) and most of the remaining structures are museums (art and history).  We bumped into the historian that we met several days ago again – and he mentioned he was going to Bayeux to see the tapestry so we decided we would also go (though not together).

The drive to Bayeux was lovely and the tapestry (which is really an embroidery) was amazing:

In case you are wondering, no, they don’t allow for photos or video.  I used my video sunglasses.  They entire tapestry is behind glass and goes down a long wall and then wraps back down on the other side. They give you an audio tour that walks you through the entire story – it is VERY well done – and then they dump you into the tackiest gift shop you could ever imagine.

The tapestry is on everything.  And everything is expensive.  The is technically more to the museum with multimedia and stuff but the reality is that they are a museum with one artifact and they really milk it.  That being said – if you are near Bayeux – you HAVE to go – its worth the 15 minute walk around the tapestry!

Bayeux was the first town liberated after D-Day and it was really appropriate because our next stop was Omaha Beach.  We didn’t stop for souvenirs – just sat at the monument for a half hour or so and enjoyed the wind and the waves.  Shockingly even though it was FREEZING – people were swimming.

After the beach we headed to the American Cemetery.  Very moving and  most people were actually being respectful.

One of my favorite parts of the cemetery was the ongoing look of confusion that the Jewish stars on some of the markers caused.  You would see a small group walk up – look confused – have a discussion involving the word “Jews” and then move on.  It was genuine confusion – but a great teaching moment.

It was pretty late by the time we hit the hotel and while we thought we would miss dinner there was in fact one restaurant still open – a Chinese buffet.  It was huge and they had everything from traditional Chinese dishes to Sushi and a custom grill section. On the way out they tried to give us shots of alcohol!

Tomorrow we only do ONE thing – but that one thing is Mont Saint Michel!

Trip tally: 808KM traveled.  14 places visited (8 castles, 1 cathedral, + 5 place of cultural significance).

As always we thank you for the support of this project be sure to Like us on Facebook & tell your friends.

It is very cold and it looks like rain.  Not the thing you want to think when you are heading to Giverny to see Monet’s Home and Gardens.  We did a quick deep dive into the suitcases to grab jackets and rain gear.  Luckily, while it stayed cold it also stayed dry.

Giverny is a nightmare.  It is filled with buses and tourists.  And with rude tourists comes rude service (I mean who can blame them).  Breakfast was good but the service was terrible.

However – seeing Monet’s home is really awesome.  As an artist he really created the right working environment.

They don’t allow for photography or video in the home itself – which is fine since his paintings inside are all reproductions.  However Monet had an amazing Japanese print collection and being this close to “The Great Wave” I just had to grab a quick pic with my video sunglasses (no – I didn’t use a flash).  Yeah I know it is a terrible picture but I was SO close to it.

The water lily garden with the Japanese bridge is one of two gardens.  The crowds were terrible – they should have people movers and automated cameras like on a roller coaster.  People were pushing and shoving and jumping in front of each others photos.  The picture shown here is a complete fluke – Amanda shot it at the one moment of emptiness – I mean it must have been a split second in which she got this picture.  I spent a lot of time on the bridge trying to get the right video segment and this photo is not representational of the throngs of people taking picture from one crowded bridge to the other.

If you avoid looking at the people – the water lily garden is amazing.

The other garden is a flower garden.  The crowds were more polite here.

The flower garden is an opportunity to practice taking photos of flowers. Enjoy…

At the flower garden I noticed something bizarre.  The button on my camera that allows me to change the lens had broken off of my camera.  After a minute of panic I realized I needed a pin and thanks to the gift shop – I now have a Monet pin and can again change lenses.

At the church down the road is Monet’s grave.  No crowds here. At all. Very sad.

We left Giverny and headed to La Roche Guyon.  I have been here a few times but we got a little lost trying to find a place to park and ended up circling the town a few times before finding a PERFECT spot right in front.

A few years ago I had a Salmon Crepe that came with a surprise side of Caviar.  We went to the same place for lunch and it was just as good as last time.  I am a loyal customer!

And some of the best frothed milk and chocolate I have had yet!

La Roche Guyon is a double castle.  The 12th century castle is carved into the limestone cliff and on the top there is a 12th century tower.

You enter the castle from the main entrance on the ground floor and start to climb…

The ceiling beams are nicely decorated.

The castle had strange multimedia installations.  At one point there were couches and headphones on an outside balcony!  This is an old hair dryer that has a speaker in it:

At the top of the castle there is an entrance to a tunnel that leads into the cliff – and a secret staircase leading up to the tower.

Half-way up is a pigeon coop. Very imaginatively they demonstrate this by putting picture of pigeons in each of the holes.

Back up the very steep steps and you get to the base of the tower.

Through the door and up more steps to the top of the tower.

Luckily there was a toilet at the top!   I didn’t see any toilet paper so I waited for the next one.

Then back down the stairs.

In the basement of the castle are casements that were cut during WWII when the castle was used as Field Marchall Rommel’s bunker.

There are also prehistoric troglodyte caves as well.  Very dark and damp.

Just to recap – we climbed to the top of this:

Which of course means I can have some ice-cream!

Back on the road – we headed to Caen to a hotel at the train station.  We got there pretty late and there was nothing to eat (except pink marshmallows) and a quick cheese sandwich.

The adventure continues tomorrow…

Trip tally: 643km traveled.  10 places visited (7 castles, 1 cathedral,  + 2 place of cultural significance).

As always we thank you for the support of this project be sure to Like us on Facebook & tell your friends.

We got up first thing in the morning to have a quick visit to the Cathedral in Amiens and then move on.  Of course we had to stop for some coffee, cocoa, and croissants (and some mini beignets).

Amiens is the tallest intact cathedral in France.  Standing inside it makes you feel small.

The cathedral has a floor labyrinth – walking it is amazing (sorry) – but it really is peaceful and you can see how praying or mediating while following it would be enlightening. Don’t ask how I got this picture!

This brings us to the skill of John the Baptist.  Yes this is the skill of John the Baptist.  Can I prove it? No.  Can you prove it? No.  Are there others out there?  Yes.  What was more important was the importance of the relic to those visiting.  To be honest – no one was even looking at it until we started to film and photograph it and then a crowd gathered and we had to leave.

Our visit to Amiens was to enjoy the size of the cathedral and see the skull.  Our timing was perfect though as they were just taking people up the tower.  The gargoyles are cool!

They told us that this is the only cathedral in France where you can walk at the ‘level of the rose’ and when standing right next to it you can see not just how big it is but also how it was built. This was only halfway up – they let us climb all the way to the top.  What a view and what a lot of steps!

After Amiens we headed to Gisors.  Along the way we had a ‘gas station’ lunch.  Don’t feel bad though the gas station food in France is pretty gourmet.  Ham & Butter sandwiches, dry sausages, Emmental flavored cheese curls.  It was helpful getting the GPS to allow for toll roads – now we get to take some highways.

Gisors is a classic Motte and Bailey construction – a Norman keep on a man made hill surrounded by an open field and a curtain wall.

The weather was perfect and there were very few people visiting!

From Gisors (which is 11th century) we headed to the Chateau Gaillard (which is 12th) – this is the castle of Richard the Lionheart.  It was a challenge to get there as there were many detours on the road because of construction – a real struggle between the signs and the GPS.  I can’t say who won the fight.

It is a crazy drive up the mountain (not man made) and then an insane walk to the castle which is in ruins.

The ruins of the castle are free but the inner keep you have to pay to see – we did both but I think the outer ruins are better.  We explored every nook and cranny of the castle.  Some amazing views.  We met a historian who suggested while in the area we try and see the Bayeux tapestry.  Everyone we meet always has a suggestion of where to go next – however this one I have to admit was pretty good – I didn’t realize we might be this close and if I can squeeze it in I might!

I wish I could tell you we had some glorious dinner but most places were closed and the hotel gave us a coupon to a chain restaurant (hey it was still French – it is not like we ate at a Leon of Brussels) – I had a wood fired steak and this dessert platter (yes I have 2 whip creams because I had to substitute the alcohol laced fruit).

So endeth day 4! The weather has really held up and tomorrow we head to see Monet’s garden in Giverny!

Trip tally: 427km traveled.  8 places visited (6 castles, 1 cathedral,  + 1 place of cultural significance).

As always we thank you for the support of this project be sure to Like us on Facebook & tell your friends.

On the road again!  We left Compiegne for our first ‘real’ day of traveling.  The reason it is ‘real’ is that most days we don’t get a ‘base of operations’ we no longer get to check into the hotel, leave our bags, and then explore. Instead we have to work out of the car.  This means that we each have to carry a backpack with ‘essentials’ in case we get robbed.  Essentials means medicines and technologies.

We left Compiegne for Pierrefonds.  This is my FAVORITE castle – it was my first castle andit still is amazing.  You drive through the forest of Compiegne to get there – it is very much a storybook forest.

On the way we passed the Clearing of the Armistice – and while it wasn’t on our original list – I added it to the film.  I mean how often do you get to stand on the place that WWI ended?!  In 1940, Hitler made France sign a treaty (this time with Germany in control) in WWII on the same spot.  There was a wagon that both treaties were signed in but Hitler destroyed it in 1945 because he didn’t want to have to sign a treaty in it himself!

In front of the museum they had a tank from WWI.

This tank wasn’t the only old vehicle we saw – the parking lot was filled with these ‘classic’ cars.  It made Amanda and I feel better about leaving our luggage in the car.

This is a 3 wheeler!

After the Clearing of the Armistice we drove to Pierrefonds.  The castle just LOOMS over the city.  We grabbed a quick lunch before we went in.  We ended up both getting meat trays (and then swapping bits off of each others plate).

I will say that this time Amanda picked better than I did.  She had a giant thing of melted Brie – though we both got baked potatoes.

I love Pierrefonds.  Did I say that? Each year I go back and take this SAME shot.  It never gets old for me.

The Pelican-Bat-Frog is also an old friend!  I think this shot is the best I have ever taken of it.

I noticed one of the decorations was a blacksmith!

Over the years, the displays have changed.  The entire castle is in constant renovations and is used to make TV shows and Movies.  Most recently the TV Series Merlin was set here so a lot of people really recognize it.

Several years ago they opened a crypt like area in the basement.  It is filled with effigies of famous people and they have interesting lights and audio to make it a little ‘spooky’.  The effect is great and you can tell that it really freaks out the school children who are visiting.

Speaking of children. One group of students on a field trip from Bushmead Primary school in Luton, England started talking to me and kept telling me that they loved my ‘American’ accent.  They asked me if they sounded ‘posh’ to me with their English accent.  They also kept asking me to say their names like Max, Lily, Jennifer, Megan.  And would then giggle and laugh and ask me to say it again.

They also kept taking my picture!

While this all looks very academic – none of it was about the castle!  They kept trying to get me to talk in an English accent for them.

Their teachers thought this was very funny and said they imagined their big ‘take-away’ from one of the greatest castles in the world was that they met an American.

For me, I loved going back to some of my favorite spots and getting better versions of my classic pictures – like this Griffin.

Or the chapel!

This drain spout is interesting and the last few times I saw it – it was green from moss or algae.  I was disappointed to see it clean!

After we toured around – we headed out front to film my opening statements.

Now there I am on the lawn, Amanda is shooting and giving me direction and you can see some of the people who work there kind of watching me off to the side.  Our rule when filming is to just be enthusiastic teachers/tourists and only reveal that we are shooting a film at the end when we are leaving (in case we get thrown out).   I am doing take after take and can see them sitting and smiling – I got the impression that they were curious but not bothered.  So I hand them our cards.  The cards we carry have THIS castle on them and the logo is a stylized version of THIS castle.

Apparently this is a good thing.

One of the ladies who worked there asked if I knew about Michael Jackson and the castle? It turns out he loved the castle and had a replica built for Neverland Ranch.  She asked if we wanted to see a picture and proceeded to take us back into the castle and into her office (which is IN the castle).  I will be honest – I was freaking out – just getting to walk up a staircase that you never get to walk up!

We chatted for a bit – she was very nice to us – and then asked if we wanted to see a really special view.  She then opened a door in her office and it opened up unto the courtyard – wow.

I can’t thank her enough for making this trip to Pierrefonds extra special!

Castle hunting is a lot of work so afterwards we stopped for ice-cream.

We then had to head back onto the road to get to Amiens by nightfall.  We didn’t realize it at the time but the GPS was set to avoid tolls (and therefore the highway) but we got to Amiens by dusk and headed into the hotel.  The hotel had a restaurant but he strongly suggested we eat elsewhere and headed down to the Quai which houses all of the fine dining. Along the way we passed Amiens Cathedral (which doesn’t count on today’s list because we don’t visit it till tomorrow).

The lighting could not have been better!

The sun was setting perfectly across the facade.

On the way to dinner we passed a Marionette shop! Creepy.

The restaurant was very modern.  My fois was served on a large slate slab!

The bacon wrapped scallops were perfect – though the fries and watercress was a bit much.

For dessert they had this platter with a drink and 5 mini desserts.  It also had 5 spoons.  I think I forgot to change my spoons though.

After dinner we passed by the cathedral and were awestruck by what we found!

At night they have a multimedia show where they project the original polychrome colors onto the facade and show what the brightly colored statues would have looked like 600 years ago.

It was truly awe-inspiring.  Brilliant!

Even thinking of it now and re-looking at these pictures I get chills.  A truly transformative experience.  And to think we almost missed it by eating in the hotel.  If you go to Amiens you MUST see the cathedral at night!

So this ends day 3.  Tomorrow is another big day – we see the cathedral and 2 more castles.

Trip tally: 246 km traveled.  5 places visited (4 castles + 1 place of cultural significance).

As always we thank you for the support of this project be sure to Like us on Facebook & tell your friends.

(Sorry for the extended delays between posts- the Internet has been terrible and our nightly routine has been focusing on downloading and backing up data from all of the cameras and also charging all of the batteries – plus we have to pack and repack and load and unload the car daily!)

We left Senlis first thing in the morning loaded up the car and drove to Compiegne.  This is the first city in France that I ever visited and have been back several times.  I had planned on a slow start and we got to Compiegne right around 11:45am.  With check-in at noon I asked if we could check in a little early and he said fine and handed me my door code and a bag of pink marshmallows!  It turns out that the marshmallows are a promotion and the ones we threw away yesterday were ours to eat – damn!  We tried them and they were awful.  Not awful – like bad – but awful like if a marshmallow is going to be SOUR instead of sweet that you would want to know first.  After the surprise wore off we ate the whole bag.  We unloaded the car and headed out to have lunch and do some exploring.

After a quick lunch we headed to the Tour Bouregard.  This is a funny little tower in the middle of a parking lot.  It is also called the Tower of Joan of Arc in her honor because from this tower the captain of the city witnessed her being captured by the Burgundians.  It is all that remains of a larger castle that once stood here.

From there we headed to the Chateau d’Compeigne.  The castle has been built and rebuilt many times and was often a seat of royal power – it was also a hunting ‘cabin’.  Most of the wall decor is painted to look real – but it is fake granite, fake marble, and fake carvings.  Apparently painters work cheap!

It wasn’t too crowded but it took forever to get the picture of the back of the Chateau with no people!  This one couple was sitting there just lounging around (and saw me trying to take a photo) when the man got up and asked if I would take THEIR photo.  Of course!  I took their photo and then they SAT BACK DOWN!

The dining room didn’t look made up in a fake way – it looked fresh – like people were about to sit down to eat.

This pinball looking table looked really fun – behind it there appears to be another game table like a shuffleboard.

The ballroom was huge.  There was one guy in here who knew I was trying to take a picture and just kept dancing around the room with his audio tour – looking at the ceiling then at me – then the wall – then at me.  I was patient – I think it pissed him off.  I never ask people to step aside – I just wait.

I have been to this castle many times and I always love this bedroom.

Some of the furniture is so unusual – I wonder how comfortable it is to sit and talk in this.

I saw a painting of Pierrfonds (which is my favorite castle) – we visit it tomorrow!

After the castle we headed to the gardens – which were very expansive but not very floral – large fields of green and trees – we will be going to better and more visually attractive gardens soon.  We headed into town where I took this photo in the parking lot:

It is of the Saint-Jacques Church of Compiègne.  While the photo is pretty – it isn’t part of the film or the narrative (so it doesn’t count on my uber list of places visited).  We then went shopping at the MonoPrix for some supplies.  I love the fact that the supermarket has an entire display case dedicated to smoked salmons! We got a cooler bag and some big bottles of water – We also needed to get something to cover inside the car.  The luggage all ‘fits’ inside the trunk but only if we move the seats forward slightly which means that a small amount of the trunk is visible.  I got a black bed-sheet which we cover the inside of the trunk with to obscure the view when looking from outside.

Now for the foodies.  I am not a big fan of mustard and though I have been slowly building a tolerance for the ‘flavor’ of mustard it still is a shock when you order Mayonnaise and get:

One of the great joys for me is the ability to order real hot chocolate after a meal (I am not a coffee drinker).

For lunch Amanda ordered the Croque Monsieur (ham and cheese) but I had the Croque Monsieur with Salmon – think lox and cheese served hot.  Of course everything comes with Pommes Frites (French fries) and the salad has a nice bit of what type of salad dressing?You guessed it – Mustard.

For dinner we had a 3 course ‘menu’.  The starter was a Mushroom Terrine – which is a meat spread.  A little rich in flavor for Amanda – and the pink stuff is pickled onions – which neither of us ate.

We also had the steak and fries.  While it was cooked it was also a red purple.  We have to remember that meat is served VERY rare here and well-done = medium.

Of course I had to end my meal with the Creme Brulée – it was good – but then again I can’t think of a time I have ever had a bad one!

Amanda had the chocolate mousse.

Since we were staying in Compiegne – we were able to just go back to the hotel after dinner and relax.

So this ends day two.  Trip totals: 3 places visited (all castles) and 111km traveled.  Don’t worry the ramps up quick – I had to get us started a little slow to get us into the groove.

As always we thank you for the support of this project be sure to Like us on Facebook & tell your friends.

Let the adventure begin!

So we landed got the car – loaded it up and were good to go!

The trick of course is that we just got off a plane, were tired, and our bags and equipment weren’t ready to go just yet.

The closest castle to Paris is the Chateau Chantilly and while I would normally just drive there and visit the castle and then find a hotel – in 2004 when I did this the car was robbed – I mean empty – 3 hours into a 19 day trip and I had nothing to my name except for the cameras I was carrying.  So in honor of the 2004 robbery I have become very suspicious of Chantilly and decided to check into the hotel first.  We don’t often get to do this – because of the nature of the trip we will often be working out of the car.

We headed to Senlis to find our hotel but they wouldn’t let us check in until noon.  Instead we found a Patisserie and had some Quiche and croissant (I had cherry & apple while Amanda had chocolate).   Don’t ask me why but right in the center of Senlis is this statue:

Finally we checked into the hotel.  We are mostly staying at IBIS Budgets (which were previously known as ETAPS) very basic accommodations – much like a dorm room – no AC this time – oops – but everything else was fine.  Luckily we were on the first floor – because this one didn’t have a lift.  The towels are barely towels and there was a package of pink marshmallows (sealed) on the desk in the room which made us wonder how well they cleaned the room if they missed the bag of marshmallows – we threw them away even though they were sealed.

I rented a mobile hotspot and had it shipped to the hotel before our arrival – they of course had no record of it – luckily we thought to check the IBIS (not Budget) next door and they had it so now we have Internet whenever we want though we have to budget so we don’t go over the usage allowance.

The castle was open until 6pm so we took a quick nap, loaded up our gear and then headed out.

The Chateau de Chantilly is a pretty cool place.  This is the castle:

These are the stables:

And these are the servants quarters:

Funny right?  If the castle and stables look familiar it might be because they were featured in the James Bond film “A View To a Kill”.

There were people lounging everywhere on the castle grounds which is a huge park.  Lounging really isn’t the word though – making out is the word – all you could see were couples rolling around on the grass.

The castle houses the Conde Museum which has some of the finest collections of paintings, books, and prints in the world!

The details are amazing:

 

 

The library was great and had an exhibition of manuscripts that were really well displayed.

I particular liked this lion hanging on the wall.

Funny story – so there are couches and chairs all over the place with little ropes and signs that tell you not to sit on them – but every so often there is a couch you CAN sit on to enjoy the artwork.  In one such room I was looking at some paintings and there were several people sitting on a big circular couch when Amanda decided she was also going to sit down to film some of the paintings.  When the guard came up to yell at her, Amanda was sure it was about the video camera so she told the guard (very politely) that they said she could film – totally oblivious to the look of horror on the guard’s face as the guard was trying to explain that she was sitting on a real antique couch.  It was awesome.  We checked later and alas the exchange was not caught on camera.

We got some nice shots and some video – it was the first day so I wasn’t as ‘on’ as I would have liked but the reality is that if we only get a minute of good footage per place then we have a feature length film.  I had some nice stories to tell and I think it came out fine.

We stopped at the restaurant for a quick Lunch – I drank my Orangina (which you can get in the US but somehow tastes better in France):

We split a Croque Monsieur with fries.  Our waitress actually disappeared on us – took our order and then we never saw here again – must have been a shift change or something.  One of the stories of the chateau is that in 1671 the maître d’hotel, Francois Vatel committed suicide because the fish course was served late to Louis XIV.  So in my mind she didn’t go home – she offed herself because of the lousy service.

But then got what we really came for.  A bowl of Creme Chantilly (whipped cream) – you see while Creme Chantilly wasn’t invented at the Chateau Chantilly (which is the prevailing myth) it was indeed perfected there and WOW was it good. That is a macaroon in the center as well as a butter cookie and some berries.  We split the one (though there remains great debate on the equity of the division) – which was a mistake – we should have ordered like 5 of them.

I know there are a lot of foodies who read this so I will try and end the daily posts with some notes about the meals.  For dinner we stopped at a local Creperie in Senlis.  I started with the Fois Gras  – which I adore and will be having often – it came with a nice fig preserve.  It was a little too rich in flavor for Amanda.  Then we had savoy Crepes (called Galettes) – they were huge.  Amanda had ham, cheese, and egg on hers while I had the salmon, ham, egg, nuts, and salad (which is pictured).  Neither of us could finish our Galette and so we didn’t have dessert.

Exhausted we headed back to the hotel to figure out the WiFi and offload the data.  I had some major technical issues – the GPS unit wouldn’t download on Windows 8 (fixed) and there was no audio on the video files (because I had the camera set to Linear PCM instead of Dolby) it turns out the audio IS there but harder to access not set properly.

All in all a good first day.  One castle down – 76km driven!

Tune in for Day 2 – when the mystery of the pink marshmallows is finally revealed.

As always we thank you for the support of this project be sure to Like us on Facebook & tell your friends.

Sorry for the delays in posting the start of the trip – have run into some technical issues.  First – I have been dead tired and yes this is a technical issue as my body needs to function for me to be able to write – second  is the spotty Internet at the hotels.  Hopefully it will get better – I do have a mobile hotspot – but more on that later!

This is technically the ‘Day 0’ entry about the travel itself.  So no castles (or culture) yet!

It is amazing when you think about how much we need to bring on a trip – not only are we going to be gone for 30 days but we are also filming a movie so it is a lot of equipment.  Both Amanda and myself agreed that we would each take only 3 bags – a backpack, a small carry-on suitcase and a single checked bag.  The electronics would be carried on with us for safety sake.  When we got to the airport we found my suitcase was overweight and that it was cheaper to have a second suitcase than to have a heavy one – so Amanda and I did a quick redistribution and got the weight down so no baggage fees (yet) – I think it was the tripod and the batteries that really added some heft. The wireless microphone takes AA batteries and rechargeables are always iffy so  I just packed a lot of batteries – the good news is they won’t be coming back!

My suitcase of technology was going to be fun at security – not only was it filled with cameras and chargers but I also had a bag of spare batteries (which you are not supposed to check) and the quadcopter and transmitter.  The guy at the x-ray machine kept cocking his head and pointing at the screen – rewinding – forwarding and then whispering to his colleagues.  But in the end they did not need to open the bag – go figure.

We flew from Cleveland to Charlotte to Paris which seems weird but worked out fine.  It was US Air to Paris – which also seems weird but was mostly fine.

There was some trouble with the inflight entertainment though:

Yes that looks like a blue screen of death on the screen (it isn’t but it’s close)!

They tried rebooting it for us several times. Amanda’s didn’t work.  In the end we watched a film on my screen using a headphone splitter and then I switched seats with her when I went to sleep – the screen wouldn’t turn off but after a little prompting they gave us sleep masks.

A few days before the trip I got an email from US Air telling me that I could upgrade my meal for $20 to a cold gourmet meal.  I look all over the Internet for reviews and only found announcements and some scoffing – no one had actually tried it.  I figured what the hell.  I got the beef for myself and the chicken for Amanda.  I have to say I thought it was surprisingly good – the spring roll was great and had a little dipping sauce – the beef and noodles were not just tasty but also identifiable! It also came with a little salad (with a single shrimp), breadsticks, cheesecake, and a small bottle of wine.  I would definitely do this again!

The flight was pretty routine – I slept a little (thank you wine) – and when we arrived our luggage was there (after a little wait).

The car was a real surprise – it is much bigger than I thought!  It has a USB for my iPhone (hello music) and a nice GPS unit.  What is weird is the color – everyone else was getting black or silver and then they pull up in this bright blue car for us.  I love it.  It has taken some time to get used to driving it though – it is an automatic but not like the automatics are at home – it really is a manual car with an automatic shifter and clutch – it drives like a manual car that someone else is shifting.  It also has no Park – you stop the car – put it in neutral and apply the parking break.

So that’s the ‘transit entry’  we have arrived in France and all is well.

In case you want to read more about the planning of the trip be sure to check out the planning entries here:

Planning the expedition – Part 1 – Air Travel

Planning the expedition – Part 2 – Hotels

Planning the expedition – Part 3 – The Car

Planning the expedition – Part 4 – Wardrobe & “The Look”

As always we thank you for the support of this project be sure to Like us on Facebook & tell your friends.