France Trip Day 4: Church and Chateaux

While we were daydreaming about this trip, Gary and I thought it would be worth it to stay in really cheap dumps most of the time if we could save for a fabulous one-night castle experience. I spent HOURS online looking at hotel castles in France, and for price (135 euros, including breakfast) and size of the room (two bedroom suite), this one won hands down. It's called the Chateau de la Grange Fort, and most of it dates from the 16th century.

It was not your typical hotel stay. For one thing, this is a family-owned castle. The family lives there, and rents out five or so of the extra bedrooms to bring in some extra business. We definitely went on the off-season - when we got there, after our first squeals of delight at its romantic and dramatic facade, we realized that the place looked deserted. Bikes and yard tools were strewn haphazardly from moat to portcullis, and there were no other cars. We wandered through the front court, unsure of which door to knock upon to garner entrance. Finally a stately gentlemen pulled in in his Jaguar, parked it in his garage, pet his dog... and then noticed us standing cluelessly in his front yard.

The kids played with the dog, a lively German Shepherd named Balti, while we tried to figure out how to get the talkative octogenarian to let us into the castle so we could put down our bags. Hes a Dutch Duke of some kind who bought the chateau 27 years ago because things were getting "too crowded" in Holland. He immediately started feeling us out as to our political and religious predilections, which I thought was hilarious. Luckily he had dated a Mormon once and really liked her, so I guess we passed muster. He took us in the side door and introduced us to his equally aged wife, who spoke NO English. She grunted and gave us an old-fashioned key with a tassel on it and showed us to our rooms.



It was spotlessly clean and decorated with a layer of ornamentation common to older European generations (little glass figurines, pictures, trinkets galore). The girls loved the Oriental canopy bed, so we told them they could sleep there while Gar and I took the "maid's room" next door. Then we hightailed it outside because the sun was setting over the river and a hike down to the shores was calling us!
The castle from the rear

It was "the glow!" (we had the same glow the day of our wedding, when the setting sun shone through the clouds with a specific, magical quality that only happens occasionally.)

Since we were still the only guests there, we had the whole estate to ourselves. It was grand. We hiked everywhere, climbed everywhere, and played Lord of the Manor to our hearts content. Then we got our pizza dinner (see last blog entry), played in the park, and returned for bedtime in our magical room!

Only when bedtime came, the cool, unique room took on more sinister proportions so I had to give extra cuddles in the princess bed. Spencer eventually crawled in between his sisters and kept them safe all night. He's very brave.

Yummiest hot chocolate ever! Our regal hostess brought us the typical French breakfast of croissants, baguettes, oj, individual jams and butter, and hot chocolate. Divine. Then, since we had had so much agreeable conversation the night before with the older gentleman, he consented to give us the grand tour of the chateau. Sweet! It pays to be nice! The Swiss couple who was also their with their new baby wanted to come along as well, but the Duke was very hesitant. He had to talk to them for a while first to make sure they were acceptable company worthy of the honor or something. Eventually he graciously let them tag along. I was so sad that most of the interior pictures turned out all blurry - the interior was so interesting! This is the main dining room, where they have a restaurant during the summer months. He said that this was where they had their family Christmas celebrations, and I can just imagine! Spectacular! Below is the chapel, with original painting and mosaic work, evidently.
My favorite part of the tour was the view from the parapets and the tower; it was a highlight of my whole trip, actually! We were on top of a castle in France, chatting with the owner, gazing across fields and rivers and villages... it was slightly surreal.
Yes, that is a gargoyle. I didn't ask his name. He wasn't very talkative.


Here is the Duke himself, with the Swiss lady and her baby, and our luggage. We had to leave right after to make it to church on time.

Of all the days of the year we could have chosen to take our kids to church in France, we hit the jackpot. It was the Primary kids' sacrament program. Maggie got a little grumpy that she couldn't understand anything, but Spencer spent most of the meeting under his seat humming loudly along to all the songs and Sophie sat fascinated. Gary got to meet with several people he remembered from his mission and hear all the updates, and we got a good lunch afterwards at KFC. (I know, you're thinking, you went to KFC in France? But come on, it had a play place, and they were going to be in the car for four more hours! and remember, I have a very picky eater. It was a relief to have food she recognized to keep the Sunday peace!)



More hilltop treasures as we drove by. And I love the France city signs; each one is different, illustrated with the chief attraction of the town. So much more effective than just the name.
We finished our drive north towards Tours just in time to spend an hour or two at Chenonceau, probably the most famous of the Loire Valley castles. It certainly is perfect. Here you go:



It was very crowded inside, and we kept losing each other, so it was kind of a relief to get out of the chateau and into the gardens. We found the playground, of course, then drove to our hotel, Ace Motel (a budget find! We loved it.) to do some laundry. In the sink, of course. We packed very light, taking only backpacks, so as you can imagine, by now all of us smelled a little...off. Gary ended up blowdrying socks and underwear the next morning so we had things to wear, but it's all part of the experience.