Today has been idyllic. It’s hard to describe just how lovely it’s been but try to imagine Darling Buds of May crossed with Frankenstein. So you’ve already gathered that we’re at this amazing Chateau in the middle of the Loire region of France. This weekend is a special one for Chateaus in that all must open to the public if they are to retain that special status. Stephan (and the Friends of the Chateaux) have organised a pig roast, archery and tours of the places.
We’ve been privileged as we’re already lodgers to have full run of the place anyway but joined Stephan and his family for the roast hog dinner, which was lovely and well worth the 16€. Then we sat around just chatting to people (fortunately there were a lot of ex-pats to chat to as our French is still awful): A family from Northamptonshire and some of their daughter’s friends, a couple from America over here on holiday/working (more on them later) and a very chatty model (who does the Chateau PR) and her actor husband.
In the morning we had to nip out to pick up a bit of food for the evening as we weren’t intending on going out. That too longer than expected as we also hunted for petrol. It rained quite heavily but for the rest of the day it was gorgeous sunshine but not overpoweringly hot. So overall, rather pleasant.
The lady from Northamptonshire started by admiring the car, which is always flattering, and we quizzed her about her life over in France. She’d lost none of her accent and, indeed, her daughter, born here, had picked it up, as well as fluent French. Chatting to this girl’s friends, who were about 12, was a lovely experience – some intelligent, articulate, friendly, confident, happy children who had a conversation with adult strangers on equal terms. We so, so wish that more kids were like this.
We both attempted archery with differing results. Mike kept shooting over the target – as you can see in the photo the target was quite low so he had to shoot at a pretty steep angle. Pen faired better and didn’t require much guidance to do a pretty decent job.
Jedd and Michele are a young couple form Oregon. They described themselves as ‘Digital Nomads’ in that they didn’t have a fixed abode (Michele’s parents is where they stored their ‘stuff’) and spent their time doing paid house sitting, staying with friends or travelling around. However, they are both fully employed as internet consultants, helping businesses with all aspects of networking, websites, social media etc etc. which they were able to do from anywhere with a decent network connection. Jedd managed to enamour himself on introduction by expressing admiration for the car. He knew what it is, as a big Top Gear (UK) fan.
Additionally, whilst staying at the Chateau they were helping with various parts of this weekend’s entertainment and, infact, Michele, who studied French at University was doing the tours of the caves under the place. They plan to maintain this lifestyle for as long as they can. They’re only quite young so can build up quite a CV/life history then maybe settle down… or just keep going. We can’t imagine doing this ourselves but meeting people who are was an inspiration.
The caves under the Chateau were interesting of themselves. We only saw a small proportion but they dated back to the 900s (yes, over 1100 years ago) with priest holes and areas where people lived for weeks/months at time. It’s hard to appreciate just how cramped and claustrophobic there places are but even Pen struggled to move around in the tunnels. A fascinating place.
Right now we’ve just finished a picnic supper in our room (pate on baguette followed by a pastry from the aforementioned Patisserie) and we’ve got the lights off. The electrical storm outside is providing enough light and entertainment. The clock tower rings the hour as the thunder rattles the window shutters. Cries of “It’s alive!” echo around the courtyard below (well, maybe not but they should!). This is a rather gothic experience.
