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.

France Day 3.5 : The Halloween Party

After driving north through the mountains we arrived at our castle stay near Clermont-Ferrand - more on that later, but there was no restaurant at the chateau so we drove in to the little village to explore our options. They were few, but did include pizza! So while we waited for our order to bake, we went to the adjoining park and played silly obstacle course games over the playground equipment. While doing so, we saw a parade of what must have been most of the villages' costumed children walking by in a parade, going in to the communal store/pizza joint for a Halloween party.

After a while, two girls about Maggie's age came over and asked us in French if we wanted to come join their party. Of course we said yes! Maggie and Sophie were able to introduce themselves in French, and say how old they were, and we went inside where our kids were loaded down with more sweets than would ever be good for them! We sat and smiled and chatted with some of the kids and their parents, then our pizza was ready and we went out to the park to eat it. But then, in yet another unparalleled example of French kindness, the owner of the little store bade us come in and eat at one of the tiny tables in the attached bar, usually reserved for more spendy customers. He even brought us water and napkins, so we ate in relative luxury while watching the locals drink and gab while the kids ran in and out. It was very cheery and festive, and we were so grateful for their thoughtfulness.

France Day 3: Nimes and the Drive North

After a fully luxurious stay in a family room at the Kyriad Hotel Nimes (luxury, that is, compared to the Formula 1 hotel where the loo and showers were down the hall) and breakfast at a local bakery, we took a morning to explore Nimes. It's a larger city than Arles, and it's Roman arena is larger too, and one of the best preserved in the world! They still have seats inside it, some fortified with metal stands, and hold spectacles there periodically. Luckily for Clan Larsen the audioguide tours came free with admission, so we got to hear the whole gory breakdown of a day in the life of a gladiator. Ugh - not so pretty. A little too much detail for me, like how they used to chain Christian martyrs up to poles and then let lions and tigers eat them as part of the "entertainment." Yeah, it was a real scream I bet. Literally. I can't even handle rodeos, never mind a Roman spectacle! Who said the Romans were civilized again? I kind of beg to differ!

They did build cool things though.


We spent a good two hours here, climbing up and down and all over the place. Spencer was in heaven - rocks to climb on, things to jump off, and bits of stories about fighting warriors? Is there anything cooler to a 4 year-old boy?
You know Spence was enthralled because as a general rule he did not like posing for pictures much. This was a rare moment when he was actually holding still.
From Wikipedia: The elliptical Roman amphitheater, of the 1st or 2nd century AD, is the best-preserved Roman arena in France. It was filled with medieval housing, when its walls served as ramparts, but they were cleared under Napoleon. It is still used today as a bull fighting and concert arena and can seat 16,300 people.

This little gem of a temple is called the Maison Carre, or Square House. Also from Wikipedia: It was built c. 16 BC, and reconstructed in the following years, by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who was also the original patron of the Pantheon in Rome, and was dedicated or rededicated c. 2-4/5 AD. The temple owes its preservation to the fact that it was rededicated as a Christian church in the fourth century, saving it from the widespread destruction of temples that followed the adoption of Christianity as Rome's official state religion. It subsequently became a meeting hall for the city's consuls, a canon's house, a stable for government-owned horses during the French Revolution and a storehouse for the city archives. It became a museum after 1823. Its French name derives from the archaic term carré long, literally meaning a "long square", or oblong - a reference to the building's shape.

Gary doing his Hercules impression. He autographed copies of his new workout Buns of Bronze afterwards.
Foundations of a Roman house found by accident centuries later.


Now, how did this get in here? Oh, because we like treats! Most cities in France (and Europe, for that matter) have monuments to the soldiers of the city who died in the World Wars of the 20th century. I thought Nimes' was particularly beautiful; the street level looks like this, above, and inside and below street level is this lovely mosaic. The walls of the sunken circle are engraved with the names of the fallen.
A bit of trivia for you; denim derives its name from this city - serge (a kind of material) de Nimes. Denimes. Denim. You learn something new every day!
The drive north through the Massif Central mountain range was stunning with its fall colors. It was a lot like driving through the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, only with castles or churches on about every other hill. I brought books to read on this trip but could not tear my eyes away from the scenery, especially when stuff like this was whizzing by at 100 kilometers per hour! Let's just say I took a lot of fuzzy pictures of hilltop castles as the we passed along the autoroute. What a show!

At Millau we drove across the Millau Viaduct - the bridge in the background below. It's the tallest man-made structure in France, even taller than the Eiffel tower which comes in second. We stopped to take a picture, and had our first experience with the "squatty potty!" heh We opted to use the handicapped restroom that actually had a toilet, as did every other tourist who entered the ladies'. Not that I'm not up for the adventure or anything, of course, but, ew.


We did this trip without movies, without Dramamine, and most of it without music even, except for the "Let's Learn French Today" songs that Gar downloaded for the trip. We had no computer and our ipod batteries died the second day. The kids did great - got a little crazy sometimes, as you can see, but overall, they were stellar little travelers. We were very pleased. And they really tried to learn and use some French while we were there!

France Day 2: Montpellier and Arles

Day two started out with breakfast in the car (croissants are portable but messy!), our first throwup incident (Spencer - caught it in a bag this time) and a drive through the Cathar region of southern France from Carcassonne through Narbonne to Montpellier for lunch. It's a fascinating area of hilltop fortresses and strange histories of Roman conquests, Catholic dissention and Spanish border wars. The very trees seem to grow in different, poetic shapes. We were happy to arrive at Montpellier, however, to get out of the car and get some lunch! Like many towns in s. France, Montpellier has its share of Roman ruins, like the aqueduct behind us. Then it has its beautiful Empire town squares and triumphal arches, and lovely windy pedestrian streets filled with boulangeries and chic stores. The rain that began in Carcassonne followed us here, but the kids were troopers. Except when Spence had to go to the bathroom and we had to go all over the city to finally find a (paying) WC. I love so many things about the USA, free toilets being one of them.There's usually a statue of either Napoleon or Louis XIV around somewhere in these cities.
Gary spent some of his happiest months of his mission here in Montpellier, and we were pleased to find that his favorite steak frites place was still up and running! Steak frites is a baguette split open, with hamburger patties, fries, ketchup and mayo all stuffed inside. Sophie and Spencer liked them too, so darn it, we had to buy another one! Get them while we can, I say!
Me filming the kids on the merry go round in the Place de l'Opera. Fit the bill for being both cheap and kid-friendly! And it was double decker, which we thought was pretty cool. Until we saw that almost every other town we visited had a similar carousel and the kids wanted to go on every one!

Our next stop that day was at ARLES. I love Arles! It's a small, fascinating Provencal town with historical dichotomies which naturally appeal to my love of art and history. A gem of a Roman Arena and amphitheater were the kids' delights, and the Van Gogh walking tour was mine - he painted many of his paintings there. A city walk leads you around to the exact spots on which he stood to paint the scene you see before you; here is Le Cafe Le Soir, below.
I can't get enough of these twisty, colorful, character-filled streets! Arles in in Provence, so all sorts of primary-colored textiles and pottery call cheerily to me from store fronts and curtained windows. I could have spent soooo much money there, but contented myself in just buying some postcards and taking a lot of pictures. We were just backpacking, after all. And I have promethean self control! ha ha
In one square of Arles, you can see Egyptian, Romanesque, neo-classical and Baroque architecture (and Sophie) in abundance. I love it.


The Roman forum and arena.

Of course, after the tour of all the cool "old rocks," we found an ice cream vendor and a playground which topped off the day perfectly. A good time was had by all!



And as we were driving out of town, we saw this. It was actually Gary who saw it and pointed out that this must be where the French vampires lived. Good one, Hubby!

France Day I - Carcassonne

Okay, this is going to be more information than you ever wanted to hear about the Larsen Family Great France Escapade 2011. Feel free to scan and skip to your hearts' content - I won't be affronted. Or surprised. It is basically my personal journal, and I don't want to forget this stuff, so prepare yourself for some details.

Our journey began when Deirdre, our Irish landlady, gave us a ride to the airport. Bless her. We flew RyanAir, which is like Southwest in that the fares are super cheap but that there are no reserved seats and everything (luggage, drinks, priority boarding) costs extra. Luckily we packed a deck of cards and passed the time waiting in line to board playing War and Rummy. (Spencer really likes to win. So does Maggie. We usually have to referee.)

(sorry, I don't know why this paragraph is underlined.) (and also, I really like parentheses. I'm sure you didn't notice.) Technically, we went to Liverpool and spent the night there before flying to France the next day. That's how we got the 9 euro fares on RyanAir. We had a great experience at the Premier Inn though, and our best Pizza Hut dinner ever (kids got free pizzas, salad, dessert, everything because we ordered a single large pizza. Cool!) We walked to and from the airport and all we really saw of England was the walk through a nice but commonplace street to the Pizza Hut. The adventure really began when we arrived in

Carcassonne!
You really have to double click on this picture and see it bigger to grasp the magnitude and imposing facade of this castle. It's breathtaking!
We called it "Sophie's Castle" because we went to it on Sophie's seventh birthday, October 27th. Happy Birthday Rosebud!
The scale model of the entirety of the castle - the wall goes all the way around an interior village where you can eat, shop, and stay in a posh castle hotel!
Sophie was always willing to pose for pictures!



We let the kids all pick out a princess/knight figurine in Carcassonne. They were cute, cheap, and got played with constantly during the rest of the trip! Very good investment.

Maggie's first taste of an honest-to-goodness French crepe - we had to document the momentous occasion.

The crepe was good, but the service wasn't - this was the restaurant where the waitress made us change tables to one in the corner, ignored us for a while, didn't bring us bread or drinks, and messed up our dessert order but evidently thought we wouldn't notice. All the while we were doing our best to speak French, be polite, and the kids were quite well behaved. Oh well. Maybe it was petty of us, but no, she did not get a tip.

And on to our Formula One hotel... we will not be staying there again either, but it was just a place to sleep and move on.

General Observations of our France Trip

Posts I would have put on Facebook had I had my computer on our France trip this week:

Mindy Hunter Larsen:
...is grateful for an awesome husband who can drive stick and handle crazy French streets with aplomb. Hooray for Hubby!
...did we really just find a navigation system for 50 euro at a grocery store? Cool!
...is so glad that Sophie enjoyed her birthday castle, Carcassonne, today! Happy 7th birthday Rosebud!
...wonders if the snooty French waitress who messed up our order, didn't bring our requested bread or water, and otherwise ignored the "stupid American tourists" in the corner really thought she was going to get a tip. PS sweetie, we understand French and heard every word you said to the chef and other waitresses about us. Oops!
...Yes, children get hungry every two hours. Deal with it.
...is glad her kids can appreciate art (like the Van Gogh tour in Arles) enough to find this trip interesting! Maggie is renewing her love of history and now has a thing for gladiators (after going to the Roman arena in Nimes) and Marie Antoinette.
...If a four year-old boy sees stones, he will climb. Even if the stones are a 2,000 year-old Roman arena in the middle of Nimes, France. Between the stories of the fighting gladiators (ew) and four stories of pillars and stone tunnels and benches to explore, Spence was in heaven! So glad we stopped to tour the inside - it was really cool for all of us - we could go almost everywhere in the arena. We're just really glad nobody fell and busted their head open. Had several close calls though.
... who knew that my kids' new favorite thing to listen to is the silly "Let's Learn French" songs Gary downloaded before the trip? Sophie particularly is picking up a very good French accent! We also enjoyed making up our own family version of "sur la pont d'Avignon." The kids like doing the funny voices.
...we thought eating at a castle (Bunratty) was pretty cool. Clue: spending the night in one is even better! Even if the owner was a loquacious Dutch octogenarian who liked to tell you his Korean War stories the whole time we were there. At least he gave us the grand tour! The view from the parapets was unforgettable!
...If, on Halloween night, you have nothing better to do than hang around a French park, running obstacle courses around the playground equipment while waiting for your pizza to be made at the local pizzaria, you might get invited to a French Halloween party. Eventually all the local kids came trooping by in their costumes, going to the community hall next door for their party. After a while they invited our kids in to their party and gave them tons of candy. We think it was because they felt sorry for the weird foreigners.
...If you must go to a non-English speaking ward, try to schedule it around the Primary program day! We hit the jackpot, going to church in Clermont-Ferrand and getting to watch the little French kids singing their primary songs, making faces at their parents and picking their little French noses. It was a good time all around.
...the Chateaux of the Loire Valley in autumn while the leaves are changing is breathtaking. Still searching for non-trite words to describe the beauty at every turn!
...The Chateau d'Usse is my favorite chateau of the day! Do not miss it! Chenonceau is also perfect but WAY overcrowded, even in October. And you can't poke into corners. And they don't act out a classic Disney movie (Sleeping Beauty) with mannequins dressed in period costume. Nor does it let you go up into the attic, or see the carriages in the stables, or explore the caves where they stored their wines and mistresses. Nor does it have a 4-foot high tunnel leading from a secret corner in the gardens to....? we never saw its end and we went in pretty far!
...the roof of Chambord, the biggest Loire Valley Castle, is by far my favorite part; fab porphyry, scores of individually artistic towers to admire, and oh the view!
...must have treats on a road trip: apples, carrots, oranges, Pringles and chocolate (white or milk). Desperately missing caramel popcorn, Triscuits, Sun Chips and my air popped pop corn though. Two more months.
...Sophie wants a bed like Marie Antoinette's when she grows up. I do too.
...is grateful for her family who accompanied her, in spite of a severe rain storm and the train which only took us part way, to Marie Antoinette's Hameau at Versailles. Mission accomplished! And the only one who took cold was me; I consider it a small price to pay. I do wish though that the buildings of the Hameau were open inside- they could do so much to make Versailles more visitor friendly with a little investment and creativity. It's impressive, but it could be more.
...did our navigation system really just take us through downtown Paris at rush hour to get to our hotel on the other side??? Insanity!
...the Bateaux Mouches was a good investment. Kids loved it.
...is at the very top of the Eiffel Tower looking at the sun shining through a hole in the clouds upon Notre Dame! PS you can feel the tower sway way up here while you sit to go to the bathroom! eek!
...much as I love a good baguette, having bread and cheese or butter for two meals a day CAN get old after a while.
...My kids get the Travelers of the Year Award in the Under 12 category for our recent France road trip - they had no movies to pass the long drives yet never complained; got dragged through 7 different hotels and three countries in 8 days; endured rain storms to visit Carcassonne, Arles, Nimes, the Loire Valley, and all the corners of the Versailles gardens with me; and at the end of it all actually walked from the Eiffel Tower, to the Arc de Triomphe, all the way down the Champs Elysses to the Tuileries and past the Louvre to our favorite pastry shop opposite the Cour Carre in one day. Gold stars all around!
...yes, we are sitting in the marble and glass mall beneath the Louvre eating... MacDonalds'. Happy Meals = Happy Kids!
...I can't get over the beautiful architecture in France. Not just the great monuments, but the individual houses and neighborhoods as well. Chartres was a visual feast, Tours a vision, Amboise stunning, and Paris just keeps going on going with marble facades, arches, sculpted pediments, architraves and mansard roofs, art nouveau embelishments and Rococo flourishes. Even the little suburban neighborhoods we drove through were designed with an eye towards aesthetics. Makes the good old USA look a bit shabby in comparison, even if we do use a lot more common sense in our design. The French have their problems, but they do like to look good.
...I never had been to Paris' Little India up the Rue St. Denis before. Saw plenty of gorgeous sari stores and curry restaurants while we were stuck in traffic there for almost two hours trying to drive out of Paris that last night.
...Not to traffic in stereotypes or anything, but the Irish and the British are nicer than the French. Sorry, but it's the truth. We realized when we got back to Ireland, where everyone from the Customs agent to our bus driver were cheerful and helpful, what a contrast it was. People actually stopped their cars to let a family with luggage and little kids cross the road here. Wow - that never happened in France!